Live Fast
by dancekiwidance
Summary: They were out of the game, living a life of honest work and domestic bliss, but one phone call from an old friend changes everything. As Vertigo floods the streets of Rio Dick music bring together a team, their aim...to give Rio back to the people. Together they must go back into a world of speed, deception and danger. Spitfire, Hints of Supermartion and Chalant.
1. The hunt

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

The slums of Rio were crowded, loud and chaotic. The perfect place to disappear.

The crowds parted as a young man kicked up the dirt road on his motorcycle, weaving in and out of the midday crowd, frequently looking back to check for the men that had been tailing him. Tapping the handsfree in his ear he called the first number on his speed dial.

"Hello?" "Dick?" "Jason is that you?" "Yeah, look I don't have much time, there's something you need to know." Jason said, he looked back over his shoulder to see that the men were gaining on him.

"What do you mean?" Dick asked, his voice tight. "The suspicious deaths in Rio, they're caused by Vertigo" Jason explained breathlessly, he took a sharp turn down an alley to avoid the jeep of armed men that had nearly rammed into him.

"The drug? But some of those deaths were children" Dick said, he hated feeling clueless. "Damn it, I don't have much time! It's in the water supply! We need to do something!" Jason yelled, now frustrated at how close the bullets were to hitting him.

He swerved again, riding parallel to the damn. Looking around Jason realised that there was no escaping Brazil, no return to Gotham and no seeing his family again. It was over.

"You need to do something Dick, you need to stop this. Tell dad that I'm sorry" Before Dick was able to reply he heard a loud ringing through the phone, gun fire. "Jason! Jason talk to me!" Dick yelled, frustrated at his brothers silence.

Suddenly there was a metallic clanking followed by what Dick managed to identify as an explosion. Jason had been hit multiple times in the shoulder and side, the force of the shots forced him to steer the bike off of the edge of the damn. His bike broke through the barrier and exploded on impact with the cliff. Jason's limp body disappearing beneath the water.

* * *

Gotham City, USA

For the first time in a long time, Dick was scared. He was terrified.

After not hearing from his younger adopted brother in over three years, he'd gotten a call for help before having to listen to his final moments play out over the phone.

He took a deep breath and thought about what to do next. After a moment he picked up his cell and called General Kent.

"General Kent" the voice barked down the phone, "General Kent, it's Dick Grayson. I'm the older brother of Jason Todd, I believe he was under your command" Dick said, suddenly nervous.

"Todd? He was one of my men, stationed undercover in Rio" Kent confirmed. "He's dead" Dick said, his voice breaking as he delivered the news. "How?" Kent asked, ever the military man, "I don't know, can you tell me exactly where he was stationed?" Dick asked, he hoped to find a place to start his own investigation.

"The last I heard there was an old warehouse on the edge of the Ipanema slums, south Rio. That's all I can give you I'm afraid...and Dick...I'm sorry for your loss" Kent said before he hung up, leaving Dick to the deafening silence around him.

Dick didn't know what was going on in Rio, the only thing that he was sure of was that what ever it was had gotten his brother killed. With a new found determination Dick decided it was time to call an old friend, but first he needed to hunt. To flick through his data base and find the best of the best.

* * *

Palo Alto, USA

Jamie Reyes looked on at the beautiful sight before him. The old Aston Martin DB5, his Aston Martin DB5, a new car. After weeks of restoration it was ready and it was his, a present from his bosses.

What made the sight even more beautiful was the gorgeous blonde that was currently polishing the car.

"You didn't have to do this Artemis" Jamie said, still not able to believe his luck. He'd drifted between jobs and stumbled upon a small garage that was looking for an apprentice. Artemis had hired him instantly.

"We wanted to, call it a graduation present. You're a fully qualified mechanic now" Artemis said, she turned her attention away from the car and ruffled the young man's hair.

Artemis' cell began to ring from her back pocket, it was a tone that she hadn't heard in a while.

"Dick?" "Arty I need you're help." Artemis turned to Jamie and put the phone on speaker. "Get Wally" her voice became tight and nervous.

"What happened?" Artemis asked, Dick called every now and then to check in on how she and Wally were but usually he just turned up at the garage or their apartment. If he was calling them on his 'work phone' then it was urgent.

"It's Jason" Dick said his voice hoarse. Jamie rushed into the room, Wally in tow. "You're on speaker Dick" Artemis said, her eyes locked on Wally's. Wally took in his girlfriends stance, she was tense, rigid. Something was wrong.

"What happened Dick?" Artemis asked again, "Jason's dead." Artemis choked, she'd met Jason on a number of occasions, he was a good kid, a military man and she'd found herself taking a liking to him. "I'm so sorry" Artemis said, the colour drained from her face and her knees felt weak.

Wally moved over to his girlfriend and sat her on the hood of the car. "I'm sorry dude, how did it happen?" Wally asked. "He stumbled onto something in Rio. He called me and said that the deaths that were randomly happening around South Rio were linked to Vertigo, he said that he had evidence that it was in the water supply. That was all he could tell me before they killed him" Dick explained, his voice breaking under the emotional weight of his words.

"The drug Vertigo?" Artemis asked, a curious expression on her face. "You've heard of it?" Dick asked, surprised at his friends knowledge of the underground substance, he'd only heard of it through Jason.

"An old colleague of mine told me about it" Artemis said, Wally looked down at his girlfriend, he noticed her hand had a death grip on the phone. He knew that his girlfriend had had a difficult past but he'd never pressed her on the subject.

He knew that she'd had a record before she met him, a record that had only increased after the two had started dating. Hell, he did too, and Dick. They were street racers, thieves and con artists.

"I know you're both out of the game, but I need you're help."

Wally and Artemis exchanged a glance before Artemis spoke, "When and Where?"

* * *

Metropolis, USA

His fists pounded hard against the punching bag, the memories of last nights fight flashed aggressively through his head and brought pain along with them.

He'd lost control. Sure, he'd won the fight, that was his job. But he'd come so close to killing that man, so close to murder. He was supposed to be the best, the champion.

That man was scum, a low-life drug dealer and murderer. He deserved to die, but he know's that that isn't justice.

Connor Kent, Metropolises underground boxing champion. How could he claim to be the best when last night he'd forgotten about the honour of the fight. Forgotten everything that his big shot father had taught him in the military. He was a disgrace.

After witnessing his rage in the ring Wendy had left him, packed up her stuff that night and walked away. There's still a hole in the bedroom wall from Connor's pain. He had no reason to stay in Metropolis. There was no family, no girlfriend and no legitimate income.

Racing was no longer an option either, the boxing circuit had turned their backs on him and the racing scene followed suit, he was dangerous and they knew it.

He needed a change of scenery.

The ringing of his cell phone pulled him harshly from his thoughts.

"What?" Connor grunted, his hand landed heavy against the bag. "Is this Connor Kent?" "That's me" Connor replied, he put the phone on speaker, set it down on the side and continued to release his tension on the punching bag.

"My name is Dick Grayson, I need you're help."

Connor stopped. Dick Grayson, _The Dick Grayson_ had called him. This guy was a celebrity on the underground racing scene. He was an icon.

Why had some one like that called someone like him? What had Connor possibly got to offer?

Making his mind up quickly Connor replied, "what do you need me to do?"

* * *

Atlanta, USA

Kaldur, looked over the blue prints on the counter. He circled the exits and reviewed the casino's security staff files, this was going to be easy. His room mates quiet singing provided an innocent sound track to their criminal intentions.

"They're cool now" his female companion exclaimed happily as she set a plate full of cupcakes in front of him. "Thank you M'gann, these smell incredible" the woman smiled at the compliment.

"What's the plan?" M'gann asked, she looked over the blue prints and files that Kaldur had splashed across the counter. "I need you to become this woman" Kaldur said, he handed her a manila envelope. She pulled out the photographs and saw a pretty read headed woman.

"Her name is Marie Logan, she's in her early thirties and was television actress. She was due to make an appearance at the poker tournament tomorrow night but you will take her place."

"Can you do it?" Kaldur asked, he had full faith in his friend and colleagues abilities but asked to be polite. "Of course" M'gann answered, her face lit up, she really did love her 'job.'

Kaldur's phone vibrated furiously against the counter. With his attention still on the blueprints before him, Kaldur answered the phone and placed it on speaker.

"Kaldur Manta?" "I am him, may I ask who is calling?" Kaldur answered politely before he took a bite out of one of M'gann's strawberry cupcakes.

"My name is Dick Grayson, I'm assembling a team and I want you on it, you're room mate too." M'gann's head snapped up at the mention of her. "We are both present, what is this team that you speak off?" Kaldur asked, curious to hear Dick's offer out in full.

"My brother was recently killed by a drug cartel in Rio De Janerio. He had found out that they were leaking drugs into the favelas water supply, this lead to the deaths of many innocent people. I want to take down the cartel. I need chameleons, people who can blend in anywhere and investigate, I hear M'gann Morze is one of the best around." M'gann blushed at the compliment, Kaldur couldn't help but wonder where Dick had found information on the two of them.

Dick continued, "I also need drivers and some one with the ability to come up with effective and efficient plans quickly, I believe that this fits your skill set. I need you both on my team."

M'gann and Kaldur took a moment to think about the offer, they'd pulled off plenty of heists together, they had a Robin Hood complex. They stole from those that were failing their city and gave to those who had nothing.

"We're in."

* * *

Las Vegas, USA

The crowd erupted into applause, they threw roses and small teddy bears onto the stage as the magician took her bow.

An audience of two thousand believed that they'd witnessed one hell of a magic show. What they had actually witnessed was the clearing of the hotel's vault.

She was a highly popular magician, a sell out performer who never stayed in one place for long. She was also a criminal, and a con artist.

Quietly she snuck out of the artists entrance, careful to make sure that no one would ever know the truth. The truth that the contents of the hotel vault were now hidden amongst her props.

She climbed into a cab and allowed herself to smile, she relaxed slightly as the hotel faded into the distance. She knew that what she did was wrong but she never kept a penny.

Everything she stole was given anonymously to various charities. She remembered all of the small heists that she had pulled off with her parents before her mother had passed away, taken by a pathetic drug addict. She thought of her father, alone and unwilling to ever take up magic again. She did this for her parents.

Her phone began to vibrate in her hand bag, she dug around and answered it.

"Zatanna Zatara here, who's speaking?" she asked, still pleased at her latest victory.

"I've heard a lot about you're magic shows miss Zatara and I have an offer from you."

"I'm listening" Zatanna said, as the lights of Vegas flew by she hung on this strangers next word. "My name is Dick Grayson. I need a magician, someone who has a talent for misdirection, some one who fights for a cause bigger than her own needs. I also need some one who can cause a scene, someone good with explosives" Dick said, he'd looked over her file, and had to admit that he was impressed with her skill set.

She used a series of well timed controlled explosions on stage, to mask what was happening in the vaults, it was genius really.

"Why should I join you're team?" Zatanna asked having already made her mind up.

"We're taking down the drug cartel responsible for poisoning the favelas of Rio and for killing my brother to keep it quiet" Dick answered, he had picked each member of his team based not only on their skills, but also for their attitudes. Yes each member had a record, they were all known criminals but they all had good intentions and big hearts.

If Zatanna's mind wasn't certain before, it was not. Zatanna lived by a code, it was all about family, you don't mess with someone's family. The cartel had no problem with crossing that line.

"Where do you want me?"

* * *

Gotham City, USA

Dick took a moment, he had just recruited six of the best and most loyal criminals that their respective fields had to offer. It was real now.

He would go to Rio, and he would finish what his younger brother had started. His team were going to take down the cartel.

Dick had a lot to sort in a very short period of time, he had a matter of days until the team were due to meet at his given location. That left him just days to arrange their transportation and the transportation of their vehicles and equipment.

"Looks like it's time to call in some favours."


	2. Meet the team

**First off, I'd like to say thank you to every one who reviewed, followed or added this to their favourites. I appreciate every single person that reads my fics and every notification that I get motivates my writing. **

**Here's the second part :) Enjoy.**

* * *

Rio De Janerio, Geleao International airport

Dick took a deep breath as he stepped off of the plane. The Rio air was hot and sticky, a thin sheen of sweat shimmered on his forehead. Dick smiled, the sun was high and bright in the sky, a proud reflection in his aviators. He could feel the electricity in the air, He looked around on his way to customs, the sounds of traffic and music filled his ears.

Today was the day, today he was going to meet his team.

First he needed to find and set up their base of operations. He climbed into his blue Nissan 370Z and sped off through the streets of Rio. He had to admit he rather liked it here, there was so much life. Dick took in the sights of the street performers and the spectrum of incredible and bright colours as they flew past his window.

it didn't take him long to find the warehouse that Jason had been using.

He pulled his car into the garage and decided to explore. It wasn't much to look at, from the outside it was nothing more than an old unused storage facility. Inside however it was Dick's idea of paradise, hell it was every it was every con artists idea of paradise. The military had clearly spared no expense in kitting the place out. He pulled down onto the ground floor and parked in the garage, this place would be incredibly helpful in Dick's line of work. He stepped out of the car and took a good look around, the place was equipped with everything that they would need to customise any vehicles that came their way.

Towards the back of the ground floor/basement Dick discovered what appeared to be an exit ramp out of the warehouse.

The first floor housed the heavy duty, high tech military gear, computers and monitors were scattered everywhere. He moved further into the warehouse and came across a large armoury at the back. There was some serious artillery, from typical hand guns to shotguns, machine guns and Dick was sure he'd spotted a grenade launcher. There was also a series of small knives and machetes.

Living wise the warehouse had a series of rooms that had been converted into simple dorms, one shared bath room and a simple wet room. There was a small kitchen with a table next to it for meals and not much else.

Dick knew he had time to kill until his new team began to arrive, he decided to unpack his personal belongings into one of the dorm rooms and set up his own personal tech along side the military gear.

Hearing the sound of a finely tuned engine, he stopped setting his gear up and moved towards the entrance to greet which ever member had arrived first. He looked on as a black '70's Charger pulled into the warehouse, followed by a yellow Lexus LFA. After turning their engines off, the three travellers stepped out of their vehicles.

After memorising the teams files on the plane, Dick knew the girl in front of him to be M'gann Morze, and the two men with her to be Connor Kent and Kaldur Manta.

"Welcome to Rio" Dick said, he stepped forward from the shadows and walked towards his new colleagues. "Thank you for the invitation, we are honoured to join your cause" Kaldur said, he stepped forward and shook hands with the younger man. He was tall, with broad shoulders and toned arms. His hair was a light blonde and his skin was dark.

Connor walked over to introduce himself. He was tall and well built with jet black hair and piercing blue eyes. "Connor Kent" he said, he shook Kaldur and Dicks hand before he moved to shake M'gann's hand. "I'm M'gann Morze" she blushed as Connor took hold of her hand briefly before he let it go. "This is Kaldur Manta" she said, Kaldur beside her. M'gann was a petite young woman with long red hair and deep brown eyes.

Before the group could say any more about themselves, they were interrupted by two black Ducati Streetfighter S motorcycles as they pulled into the warehouse, a dark grey Porsche GT3 followed them in.

All eyes locked onto the smaller Ducati rider, as she dismounted the bike. M'gann took in the woman's appearance, her Dark blue skinny jeans were tucked into knee length black leather boots, she also wore a fitted dark green leather jacket. She took her helmet off and allowed her long blonde hair to fall down her back. The room was silent. "You always did know how to make an entrance" Dick laughed, M'gann, Connor and Kaldur watched as he bumped fists with the man in the red leather Jacket that matched his vibrant red hair. He then made his way over to the blonde woman and picked her up in a bear hug.

"I know that's you're Porsche" Dick said his eyes locked on the blonde, "but who's the driver?" the woman waved at the window of the car and the young male driver stepped out. "We brought Jamie along, to help with maintaining all the vehicles and to keep a eye on this place" the blonde said, she waved an arm around at the warehouse dramatically.

"Good thinking _Arty_" Dick laughed as he ruffled the shorter girls hair. "You're hilarious Grayson" Artemis growled dangerously, when he didn't stop ruffling her hair she hit him in the chest. The red head laughed, "you should know better than to piss her off dude. Also would you car to stop being anti-social and introduce us to your new friends" Wally said, he leant casually back against his bike.

"Guys, this is Connor, M'gann and Kaldur" Dick said as he pointed to each one in turn. "These delinquents are Artemis, Wally and Jamie." Artemis and Wally took their jackets off and hung them on their bikes, revealing Artemis white grey tank top and Wally's red flash t-shirt. Dick laughed at his friends wardrobe choice. Artemis walked over to the group and shook hands with Connor and Kaldur, when she got to M'gann she was pulled into a tight hug. "It's so nice to know that there's another female on the team, I love you're outfit too" M'gann gushed, excited at meeting her new team mates. "It's nice to meet you too, I'm so glad that I'm not the only one" Artemis laughed.

"You'll have to excuse my bluntness but what exactly are everyones skill sets?" Kaldur asked, "there are files on all of us on my desk, I'll show everyone when the final member arrives. As if on cue a blue and white GT40 pulled into the warehouse. The driver stopped the engine and stepped out of the car. Her piercing blue eyes locked on Dick. "You must be the famous Dick Grayson" she moved forward and shook his hand. Dick blushed at the effect that her low slung black skinny jeans, stiletto boots and red tank top had on him.

"Everyone, this is Zatanna Zatara the final member of our team. Let's get started" Dick announced, he gathered everyone around the central holo-console.

After typing something into the desk, photos of the eight of them appeared in front of them. "I think it's time for official introductions" Dick started a mischievous flint in his eyes, he looked around at the people his new team, each member looked eager and ready.

"Photo one, Dick Grayson. Wanted for illegal street racing, theft and computer hacking, I'm also not too shabby at hand to hand combat. Photo number two, Wally West. Wanted for all of the above this guy's a science genius. Photo number three is Artemis Crock. Wanted for Illegal street racing and theft, she's a talented combat artist and ammunitions expert. Photo number four, Connor Kent. Previous record includes aggravated assault, he's Metropolises current underground boxing champion. Photos five and six are M'gann Morze and Kaldur Manta, internationally renowned thieves and con-artists, Kaldur's not a bad driver too. Photo seven is Zatanna Zatara, magician, thief and explosives expert. Finally photo number eight is Jamie Reyes, he's going to be our resident mechanic and hold the fort if we need to leave. Any Questions?"

Dick looked around at the confident faces of his team. "You've assembled quite a team" Kaldur said, Wally let out a low whistle, "you can say that again."

"What's the plan?" Artemis asked, "today we split up, Team one head will out into the favela, find out what ever they can about the cartel's location. Team two get on these computers and let's see what we can find on the cartel's members. Finally team three we need vehicles" Dick replied. Artemis locked eyes with Dick, he'd known her long enough to know that something was bothering her.

"Look everyone, since we're a team now I think we should cut the crap and lay everything out on the table" Artemis said, this caught everyone's attention. "What do you mean?" M'gann asked. "You don't have to do this Artemis" Dick said gently. "I know" Artemis replied. Wally took Artemis' hand and rubbed it soothingly drawing circles with his thumb. "We need to be able to trust each other one hundred percent, our lives are now in each others hands. We can't do that if we're holding back."

Nobody moved, so Artemis continued.

"We all have criminal records, it's why we're here right? But we all have one thing in common. What we do, we do for justice. Yes we break the law but we do it to help people." "Got that right" Zatanna cheered. Artemis laughed before she continued. "I've known Dick a hell of a long time but before he took me on as his partner I worked for the other side. It was kind of something that I was born into, a family business and I did some terrible things."

Kaldur spoke up, "None of that matters. You are not you're family Artemis and Dick has chosen us all for a reason, you have my complete trust." Connor nodded his head and M'gann smiled brightly at her, "thanks guys." "My father is the head of a criminal organisation in the caribbean islands, I know first hand that the apple can fall incredibly far from the tree" Kaldur explained, glad that this was an understanding group of people.

"Any one else?" Wally asked as he threw an arm around Artemis' shoulder. "Is everybody happy with this team? Like Artemis said we all have to put our full trust in each other if any one thinks that they can't do that now would be the time to leave" Dick said, nobody moved. "Good, so the teams... Artemis you're with me we'll be team one, team two is M'gann, Kaldur and Zatanna and Wally and Connor are team three. Meet back here in two hours. Jamie, radio in if anything happens here."

* * *

Ipanema Favela, Rio De Janerio

"This is hopeless" Artemis groaned, her and Dick were tired. The hot sun beat down on them relentlessly and the air was warm and harsh on their throats. "That was what? The fiftieth door that's been slammed in our faces." she said frustrated. "I agree, we'll try another house and if they slam the door on us like all the others, we'll head back to the warehouse" Dick said, he'd gotten this feeling not long after the pair entered the favela. They were being watched. Dick stepped up and knocked on the door, after a moment of nothing a middle aged woman answered. She had a young girl on her hip, when she saw Dick and Artemis her expression changed, their appearance had worried her.

"Do you speak any English?" Dick asked, hopeful. "A little" the woman answered. "We're sorry to trouble you, but we're after information on the location of the cartel, we were hoping that maybe you could help us" Artemis said, her voice calm and even. "Are you police?" the woman asked unsure of if she should say any more. "No we're not police, the Cartel killed my brother and I'd like to find them" Dick answered.

"My name is Paula and this is my daughter Maria, please come in" the Paula said, Artemis and Dick respectively wiped their feet on the door mat and entered the small building. "Please, sit. I have much to tell you."After the two had sat down the woman began to speak. "There is something going on in Ipanema, there have been many deaths from a drug, but the people I knew some of them, they did not use drugs. The cartel is involved, I know it...I just can't do anything about it."

"Have you been to the police?" Artemis asked, it was an obvious question to ask, but someone had to. "No, the police here. You can never be sure who is under his payroll, they can not be trusted." Neither Dick or Artemis missed the venom in the woman's voice and the tears in her eyes as she spoke of the police. "What did they do to you?" Artemis asked, leaning forward and taking the woman's hand.

"When the deaths first began a year ago, I told my husband Felipe what I've just told you. He went to the police...they shot him. They shot my Felipe in cold blood then claimed that he was armed." The woman was sobbing now, Artemis pulled her into a gentle hug to calm her.

"We can't bring back you're husband, but we can stop them from hurting anyone else" Dick started. "But we need to know where we can find them." "I don't have a location, but they're running an underground street race this Friday night down by the river. They're looking for a selection of the best drivers to recruit as runners." The woman released Artemis and sat back on her couch, Artemis took a moment to look out of the window. She couldn't believe that any one who had sworn to serve and protect could take an innocent civilians life.

As Dick Continued to talk to the Paula, Artemis scanned the area that she could see from the window. She froze. Her eye's locked onto a pair that she hadn't seen in a _very_ long time. He stood there his piercing blue eyes stared into hers, machine gun in hand, two other men at his sides.

He blew her a kiss before he raised his gun in her direction.

"Get down!" Artemis shouted she grabbed Dick and dragged him to the floor. Gun fire rang out around the favela, deafening and deadly echoes run in their ears. "Is everyone ok?!" Dick yelled, his eye's locked on Artemis. "I'm ok" Artemis replied, after no answer from Paula or her daughter the two looked up. Tears pricked at Artemis' eyes, she had been to late.

On the floor lay Paula in a pool of crimson, Maria still and unmoving beside her. The second that the gun fire stopped Dick sprang to his feet and dragged Artemis up with him. "We need to get out of here now!" he said a new sense of urgency ran through them, he ran towards the door and out into the street, Artemis right by his side. Artemis looked around, they were trapped, the jagged cliffside on one side, the men that had just tried to kill them on the other. Artemis grabbed Dick's hand and bolted. She slipped down a tight alley and up a broken ladder onto the roof of the opposing house.

"Where now?" Dick asked, he looked back and saw that the men were close behind them. "Now we run" Artemis said, she took a running leap onto the roof of the next building her landing graceful. Dick laughed and followed her lead, she was like his older sister, the only sibling that he had left, he'd follow her anywhere. Just like old times. The two ran, every now and then they would glance back to notice that the men were still in sight. "If we keep this up we'll lead them to the warehouse, we need to lose them!" Dick yelled over the sound of machine gun fire behind them. Dick hissed as a bullet grazed his arm.

"Dick look!" Artemis yelled, she pointed down off of the side of the house. "The river?" Dick asked, afraid of what she was planning to do. "On three!" "Wally's going to kill me" Dick groaned before he changed direction towards the edge of the building. "One! Two!...Three!" Artemis yelled, Dick grabbed her hand tightly and together the two plunged towards the rapid waters below.

* * *

The Raging Bull, Rio De Janeiro

"How the hell do you find a street race around here?" Connor asked, he was used to the American way of doing things, the typical scenario where the best underground racers would receive an invitation to race. Here things worked differently. Connor wondered how he always seemed to end up in the seediest places that the world had to offer, as they wondered through the dusty main street of the Ipanema.

"It's simple, you find the shadiest bar you can find, then you go talk to the bartender...they know everything" Wally whispered dramatically, Connor chuckled. He wasn't used to the whole team dynamic and it was early days, but even he had to admit that it felt good to know that some one had your back. "This place looks pretty shady" Connor said, he took in the appearance of the cracked and faded sign hanging from the side of the building.

The two men entered the bar to be met by every pair of eyes in the room. Connor felt like a target, it took every ounce of self restrain that he had not to start a fight. "This is definitely the place" Wally mumbled. The bar was decorated in old wood that was cracked and splintered, someone had obviously thought that painting everything black would fix the problem. The two walked towards the bar, avoiding the stares of the bars inhabitants

After a few minutes Connor noticed that the other inhabitants of the bar had finally turned their attention away from him and Wally.

"We'll take two beers" Wally said, he took a seat at the bar and quickly scanned the room. If there was one thing that he'd learnt from his old adventures with Dick and Artemis, it's that you need to plan your escapes in advance, know every exit and expect everyone to attack.

The bar tender slipped the two drinks in from of the men and began to talk to them. "You are Americans?" "Uh, yeah we are" Wally answered distracted, both men had previously agreed that it would be better to let Wally do the talking. "What brings you to Brazil?" the man asked, Wally was nervous, usually when strangers asked questions it never ended well. However, there were exceptions and this man seemed genuinely curious.

"We're car enthusiasts" Wally answered, "Ah you like cars? In Brazil we love American Muscle!" the bar tender said enthusiastically. "My name is Miguel, it is nice to meet some friendly Americans." "Friendly Americans? You know many unfriendly Americans?" Connor asked, confused. "Oh yes, there are many, they patrol our streets. They are bad men" Miguel answered.

"Well, we're honoured to be known as the nice ones" Wally laughed, he needed to get the conversation back on track fast. "So you like American muscle cars?" "they have so much power, so fast and dominating" Miguel answered, his eyes lighting up like a child's.

"The faster the better" Wally laughed, so far so good he thought. "If you like fast cars you should head down to the docks, they race there often it's amazing. So many cars, all different types and the ladies love it" Miguel gushed.

"We just might do that" Wally said, the two finished their beers and left the pub. "What the hell was that?" Connor asked, hearing the loud shots ring out. "Gun fire!" the two yelled. "We need to get back to the warehouse now" Wally shouted, the two took off running. They kept to the back streets. They hadn't done anything to attract attention to themselves, but you can never be too careful.

* * *

Military Base of Operations, Rio De Janeiro

"What exactly are we looking for?" Zatanna asked, as her eyes scanned the contents of the government database on her monitor. "Any one with links to the Rio drugs cartel, past or present, any lead is a good lead" Kaldur answered.

"Gotcha boss" Zatanna said, she sent a mock salute Kaldur's way. Zatanna leant back in her chair "you know it's nice to be part of a team again" she said. M'gann and Kaldur turned to her, they were used to always having each other, always there to cover each others backs. They were never alone, they had always been a team. But Zatanna, she'd been alone for so long that she never wanted to go back.

"Do you usually operate alone?" Kaldur asked, Zatanna nodded, not wanting to talk about her family and why she had spent so long alone. "We're a team now, if this is where we're going to be working I think we should name it" M'gann said excitedly. "That's not a bad idea..." Zatanna said, she took a good look around the room and spotted Jamie working on Artemis' bike. "What do you think Jamie? Any name suggestions for our new home?"

He was silent for a moment as he scanned the warehouse, "how about the cave? It's simple, the place looks like a cave, it's supposed to be a secret and there's the river out back" he answered, looking rather pleased at his suggestion.

"That's not that bad a suggestion" Zatanna said. "M'gann what do you think?" "I love it! It's like something out of a super hero movie!" she said bouncing on her chair. "Kaldur?" "The Cave it is" Kaldur said he smiled at the girls before he turned back to his computer monitor. After what felt like hours of searching M'gann caught a break. "Guys, you should see this, I think I'm onto something." "What are we looking at?" Kaldur asked, "this guy is Solomon Grundy he has present links to the cartel and down here are his known associates."

"Good work M'gann, this is the lead that we needed. Can you print these off? we can present the files when the rest of the team are present" Kaldur said, he allowed himself to relax after their break.

* * *

The Ipanema River, Rio De Janeiro

Dick broke through the surface of the water first, he looked around frantically as he searched for the blonde, his wounded arm stung in the water. "Artemis!" "Artemis! Wally will kill me if I don't return with you alive!" Dick shouted terrified of loosing her.

Moments later Artemis appeared next to him, she gasped for air and wiped her hair from her face.

"Let's never do that again" she splutteredas her eyes finally landed on Dick. Dick's face morphed into one of horror as he took in her appearance. She had a large gash on her forehead, presumably from the rocks under the water, and blood was oozing from her shoulder. "Artemis, you're bleeding" Dick said, he swam closer to her and wiped the blood off of her forehead, Artemis winced as the water stung her wounds.

"We need to get you back now" Dick said, the two swam over to the river bank and pulled themselves out. "How do we get back?" Artemis asked, her sense of direction lacking after her bump to the head. "We follow the river bank, the back entrance of the base leads onto the water."

* * *

The Cave, Rio DeJaneiro

The three were sat reading through their newly acquired files when Wally and Connor returned. "The Wall-man is here! Supey too!" Wally announced. Connor looked over at Wally, "Supey? Really?" "Hey dude, I've heard about you're boxing, you're like Superman" Wally said, his hands held up in mock surrender.

Connor laughed as the two made their way over to the team, "Are Dick and Artemis still not back yet?" Wally asked concerned, the absence of his best friend and girlfriend painfully obvious.

"Not yet, but there's still ten minutes until the two hours is up" Zatanna said hopeful as her, M'gann and Kaldur made their way down from the upper walkway. "Yo, Wally. Come fire this bike up" Jamie shouted, waving the red head over. Wally jogged over to Jamie and caught the keys that had been thrown to him, he was greatful for the distraction.

Wally climbed on and fired up the bike, revving it mercilessly. "Sounds sweet, what did you do?" he asked, his face lit up like a childs at christmas "Just tuned up the engine" Jamie replied proudly.

"She'll love it" Wally said, he climbed off of the bike and ruffled the younger mechanics hair, before handing him the keys back.

Half an hour later and the team decided that now was the time to be worried. "Seriously, where the hell are they?" Zatanna asked, she had been pacing for the last ten minutes. "We should split up, search for them" Connor said. "I agree" Kaldur added, as the team made to leave the warehouse, Artemis and Dick staggered in through the back entrance.

M'gann gasped after she had taken in the appearance of the two. Dick had a slight limp and blood dripped down his arm, Artemis had a clump of dried blood on her forehead and blood was gushing from her left shoulder. Kaldur went into leader mode, "M'gann get the first aid kit, Connor, Wally can you get Artemis and Dick into one of the dorms?"

M'gann ran off to fetch the first aid kit, whilst Wally and Connor jogged over to Dick and Artemis. The air was tense and nobody spoke. Connor relieved the weight from Dick's leg and Wally relieved Dick of Artemis', he threw an arm around her and helped her into a dorm.

In the dorm they placed her on the bed, Connor sat next to her and Wally knelt in front of her. M'gann ran in with the first aid kit seconds after. Dick stood awkwardly next to the bed, they were out of this life and Dick had dragged them back into it. Dragged her back into it, now a member of his family had been shot. Artemis had been hurt because of him.

M'gann unzipped Artemis' jacket and helped her remove it. Her grey tank top stained crimson red on her left side from the blood that had oozed down her shoulder. "Connor? If I work on her shoulder will you clean up her head please?" M'gann asked nervously. "Sure'' Connor replied, M'gann passed him what he needed and got to work on Artemis' shoulder.

"How's your head beautiful?" Wally asked, her hand tightly held in his larger one, his free hand stroked her cheek. "I'm fine, really, no need to fuss" Artemis answered, she sent Wally this look that she always sent him when she wanted him to calm down. "What happened Dick?" Wally said, he stood up next to his friend. "We were talking to one of the favela residents, when some men opened fire on the house, we managed to get out but were pursued." Artemis took over, "they forced us onto the rooftops and we only managed to lose them by jumping into the river."

There was a moment of silence after Dick and Artemis had finished their explanation. "YOU DID WHAT?!" Wally yelled, not quite able to believe what he'd just heard. "You could have died!" "Wally!" Artemis shouted, causing all eyes to turn back to her.

"It was my idea" She said calmly, "it was our only way out."

Kaldur, Zatanna and Jamie joined them in the small dorm. "Did you manage to retrieve any information?" Kaldur asked, now that emotions had calmed. "We found out that the police force around here are seriously corrupt, we also learnt that the best way to find the cartel is by catching their attention at an underground street race that's going down tomorrow" Dick explained.

"Good Work" Kaldur said, pleased with the results. "Wally, Connor? What about vehicles?" "The best way to get anything around here is to win it in a race, we were pointed to the races at the docks tomorrow night" Wally answered. "Did you find any thing in the military database?" Artemis asked. "We found a small string of people who are know associates of the Rio cartel, the files are at the centre console" Zatanna answered.

"Can we take a look at those files now, I'm fine honestly" Artemis said, she stood up and accepted a hug from M'gann. "We're glad you're ok" M'gann said after she released her new friend.

Not wanting to let Dick avoid all of the annoying fussing that she'd just received she spoke again "Oh also, Dick got shot in the arm" Artemis winked at him and left the room quickly. M'gann grabbed the first aid kit and forced Dick to sit down while she patched up his arm. The rest of the team followed her out into the main section of the warehouse.

"You know, I think you and I will get along great" Zatanna laughed, having caught up to Artemis. Zatanna handed out the files. "These lovely men and woman are our new targets" Zatanna said, earning the groups full attention.

As their photographs and rap sheets appeared in front of them courtesy of the military grade holo-console, Dick and M'gann joined them. Artemis stiffened as the photos appeared in front of her. "Criminal number one is Louise Lincoln, AKA Frost. Her record includes breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon, drugs possession and theft." Zatanna explained.

'Why Frost?" Connor asked, not understanding the alias. "It doesn't say" Zatanna answered.

"Criminal number two is Cameron Mahkent, the only information that we could find on him is that he has a record of heists he pulled off with an unknown partner." M'gann explained, "Unknown?" Kaldur asked. "It's been blanked out, his record shows that seven years ago one of his heists went south, instead of turning himself over to the police he handed over his partner instead." She finished.

"He handed his partner over? Why didn't they just arrest him there and then?" Connor asked. Artemis sighed, "because he didn't hand his partner over" Artemis began. "He shot her in the knee and the stomach and left her bleeding on the rooftop for the police to find."

"You were his partner" M'gann gasped. "It was my last job before Dick helped me switch sides, months of rehabilitation later and my knee's as good as new." Artemis said dramatically cheery. "What can you tell us about him that the records don't" Kaldur asked. Artemis took a moment, "his father used to be high up on the cartels pay roll before being killed in a police shoot out a few years ago. His record includes breaking and entering and theft, he's a pretty good racer too. Don't be fooled by his appearance though, he's got nothing to lose now, that makes him dangerous."

"He was one of the men that opened fire on us." Dick said. "Can you identify any one else from the photos?" Kaldur asked, if they could then this would mean that the leads they now had were fresh. "Uh, that guy but I don't recognise anyone else" Artemis answered, she ghosted her hand through the picture.

"That is Eric Needham, AKA Black Spider, his work with insect venom earned him that charming alias. His record includes grand theft auto, drug possession, theft..you get the idea." Once Zatanna had finished Dick stepped forward.

"So what do we know?" Dick asked. "We know that if you want to get close to lower league members of the cartel then winning one of their street races is the way to do it" Artemis said. Wally stepped up beside her, "we know that the way to get the best cars is to win them." "We also have an undercover asset" Kaldur said. All eyes turned to him, "You can't be serious" Zatanna said, she'd only known Artemis for a few hours but to send her undercover?

"I won't force anyone to go undercover, it's just a suggestion" Kaldur said calmly. Artemis turned to Dick. "It might be our only way to get close to the cartel and Artemis is a pro, she can handle herself" Dick said, he placed his hand on her shoulder in support. "Wally?" Dick looked at his best friend. Wally looked down at his girlfriend of five years before he made his decision.

"Kick some ass beautiful" the room erupted into laughter, "We'll take that as a yes then" Dick said, still struggling with his laughter.

"On one condition..." Wally started, "she doesn't go in alone, just like last time" Dick finished. "I'll go" Zatanna offered, "we'll make a good team, besides I'm a magician, who better to make their cars and weapons disappear." "We're doing this together. Artemis, Dick and I will go in as a drivers, Zatanna, Wally, and Connor you'll be part our crews and M'gann you'll blend in as one of the races photographers" Kaldur said, confirming the plan out loud.

"You know this leader thing suits you Kaldur" Dick pointed out, "All in favour of Kaldur being our ring leader" Wally said his voice raised and over dramatic. Everyone raised their hands. "Then it's settled, it's on you now Kal" Dick said, he bumped fists with him.

"How will we be able to stay in contact without arousing suspicion? And what if we get made?" Connor asked, anxious.

"Jamie that's where you come in. You'll be our eyes and ears, tap into what ever cameras you can, if this goes south we need you to provide a back up plan. We'll all keep in contact through our ear pieces, they're in the back of the porsche" Artemis explained. "Oh and Jamie, I'm going to need my porsche singing like a canary for Kaldur" Artemis said her grin aimed at the younger mechanic. "What will you drive?" M'gann asked, "I brought in an import for her" Dick said, before anyone could ask what he meant he left the room.

A few minutes later a loud revving came from the garage, Dick drove the car through into the main section of the warehouse. "My Nissan!" Wally shouted, he ran over and hugged the front of the car. "Artemis will be driving Wally's Nissan 350Z" Dick cackled as he threw the keys to Artemis. "Jamie..." "I'm on it boss" Jamie said, he took the keys off of Artemis and disappeared with the car into the garage.

"Dick can I speak to you outside for a minute?" Wally asked, suddenly nervous. "Sure dude " Dick answered as the two made their way outside. "What's wrong?" Dick asked once the two were out of ear shot. "Nothing's wrong" Wally answered, "Dude I've known you for years, want to talk about it?"

"I'm going to ask Artemis to marry me" Wally gushed, his mouth working faster than his brain.

After moment of silence Dick began to laugh. "Dude..how is that funny?" Wally asked, even more nervous than he was before. "I totally saw that coming" Dick answered calming his laughter. "Look, I get it. You've been together for years and it's obvious that you're meant for each other. You're scared because she's going undercover and you're worried that you'll never get the chance."

Wally looked at his younger friend stunned. "Erm..yeah, got it in one" Wally answered. Dick gave Wally his famous glare. "Do you love her?" "More than anything" Wally answered wiping his now sweaty palms against his jeans.

"Do you want to spend the rest of your life with her?" Wally nodded, so Dick continued. "Will you ever hurt her?" "Never, not intentionally anyway" Wally replied. Dick stuck out his hand, "then you have my permission to marry my sister" Dick laughed softly.

Wally reached out and shook his best friends hand, "thanks man, and for the record she's technically not your sister" Wally said. "Just a minor technicality" Dick laughed.

The two made their way back inside, M'gann was now making dinner with Connor's help. Kaldur was reading over the files again and Artemis and Zatanna were laughing about one of Zatanna's past jobs.

Dick went over to join Zatanna and Artemis while Wally ran to his dorm. He'd bought the ring a while ago, Dick had helped him pick it out he just wanted to wait until Artemis was ready.

It was time now.

Wally made his way to the dorm that he shared with his girlfriend. He threw his duffle bag onto one of the beds and unzipped the small inside compartment. He held the box in his hand, he'd wanted to do this for an incredibly long time. He'd even gone ring shopping with his aunt Iris to make sure that he found the perfect ring, now he was stupidly nervous.

"Breathe West, Breath" Wally muttered to himself. "You can do this, she loves you...why else would she still be with you" he laughed nervously.

Dick sat quietly whilst Artemis and Zatanna laughed together, he looked around at his team mates. He'd brought all of these people together, they had the potential to be the best, now they had to prove themselves.

Dick cackled quietly to himself as Wally walked back into the room, on the outside he seemed fine, on the inside Dick knew that he was a wreck. Wally stopped in front of the table that Artemis and Zatanna were sat at. "Can I have everyone's attention please!" Wally exclaimed loudly. _It's time Wall-Man, don't screw this up._

All eyes were on Wally, "Thieves, fighters and magicians I would like to draw you're attention to this incredible woman" he began his eyes firmly locked on his girlfriend. "She is the the most beautiful, sexy and kick ass woman that I have ever met. She's tough, compassionate and in this crazy profession that we are a part of she keeps me grounded."

Artemis' felt like her breathing had stopped, her heart beat was loud and erratic in her ears. Was he really about to do this? They'd talked about it once, but she'd never expected him to actually do it, this time a couple of years ago she'd have been mortified...but now...now she felt on top of the world.

"Artemis, I know that I'm a massive goofball and that you can do so much better" Wally gushed as he pulled Artemis up to her feet. "Smooth Wall-Man" Dick whispered to Zatanna earning a laugh from the magician. "What I'm trying to say is that I love you, I will always love you and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you." Artemis' heart stopped as Wally got down on one knee and pulled out a small red velvet box. "Oh. My. God" Zatanna gasped as Wally opened the small red velvet box.

"I should have done this a long time ago. Artemis Lian Crock, will you marry me?"

Minutes of silence passed, Artemis lost for words as she stared at the beautiful ring. "Erm...beautiful...this is the part where you say something..."Wally stuttered.

"You might be a goofball, but you're my goofball...of course I'll marry you" Artemis laughed softly. Wally let out the breath that he didn't realise that he'd been holding. "It's about damn time" Dick said as Wally slipped the beautiful white gold engagement ring on her finger.

Artemis took a moment to admire the simple and elegant tear drop diamond that was framed by the beautiful band.

"Congratulations" Dick said, he bumped fists with Wally before he pulled Artemis into a big hug.

"That was so cute" M'gann cooed as the rest of the team crowded around the newly engaged couple. Moments like this had always made the young woman emotional, it was what she wanted in life. Wally looked over at his fiancé as she received various hugs from their team mates. "Why now?" Zatanna asked the red head quietly, "What?" Wally asked, taken back with the direct approach that Zatanna had gone for.

"Dick tells me that you've been together for a stupidly long time, why propose now?" she asked, she'd taken a liking to Artemis and Wally. "Honestly? It's something I've wanted to do for years but I never wanted to rush her, we all know that this mission could get dangerous. I want her to know how much I love her before she goes out there."

Zatanna listened carefully to Wally's explanation before she decided that it was acceptable. "Congrats, you seem perfect together" the younger magician said, she tiptoed to hug the taller red head before Kaldur spoke up. "This is a reason for great celebration. However, we will celebrate together, as a team when this mission is complete. I don't have to remind anyone how important tomorrow is and how much is at stake, I recommend that after dinner every one rests up for the night."

Dinner passed quickly with the team laughing and sharing old stories, it hadn't even been twenty-four hours yet and already they were all good friends. Bonded by an enjoyment of M'gann's spaghetti and a love of the game. After dinner Artemis and Zatanna helped M'gann with the dishes. "I think I'm gonna turn in now" Zatanna said after they'd finished clearing up.

Wally turned to Artemis and scooped her up into his arms. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, myself and my fiancé, god I will never get used to saying that, are going to bed."

Every member of the team knew exactly how important the race was, they knew that the whole mission depended on Artemis, Kaldur and Dick being chosen by the cartel. Wally knew that, but right then the only thing he wanted to do was hold Artemis' body close to his, to know that she loves him as much as he loves her. To be able to feel her next to him. That's what he needed.

It was the calm before the storm...


	3. Revved Up

**I'm sorry that this is late...I completely forgot that it was a Monday. Thank you to everyone reading this ****fic, you're all amazing.**

* * *

The Cave, Rio De Janeiro

The team had spent the whole day preparing for tonight. The cave was tense and the team was nervous, there was so much pressure of Dick, Artemis and Kaldur tonight that each of them had thrown themselves head first into their preparations. It wasn't ideal but it helped to ease the stress.

Jamie and Artemis had locked themselves in the garage and were prepping the cars as Connor looked on and took notes, whilst they were doing this Dick and Wally created a link between all cameras down at the dock to record all of the footage while they were down there, just incase they caught something that the team missed. They decided that it was best to take Jamie with them, give the kid some field experience and it was another set of eyes in the crowd. Kaldur was re-reading the suspected cartel members files again and M'gann and Zatanna had gone shopping, after all tonight they needed to blend in, and that...was their speciality.

Hours later and the team was ready, the time had come.

"Is everyone clear on the plan?" Kaldur asked. "Crystal. We arrive separately, The primary aim is for Artemis, Dick and Kaldur to catch the cartels attention and solidify there cover. The secondary aim is to find out as much as we can about the cartel maybe even find a few allies" Wally clarified.

"Easy plan then?" Dick laughed. M'gann emerged from her dorm, kitted out in a gold sequin halter top, black denim shorts and black shoe boots. She had a satchel over her shoulder. Connors jaw dropped before he quickly caught himself and went back to his stone faced look. "Is everything ready?" Kaldur asked as she approached the table of men, "all set" she said as she took a seat next to Connor.

Jamie entered the room, three small hard cases in tow. Before any one could ask what was in the cases, Zatanna and Artemis entered the hanger. "Wow..." Dick whispered to Wally, whose jaw was wide open. Zatanna wore black low slung skinny jeans tucked into knee high stiletto boots, with a purple bralet. Artemis who walked next to her carried two briefcases, she was dressed for practicality in short blue denim shorts, a loose green tank and black combat boots.

"Every one gather round" Zatanna said as Artemis placed the briefcases on the table, she slid the first case over to Dick and opened up the second case.

"These are your ear pieces, keep them in at all times and try to be subtle" Zatanna said, As Artemis handed out the earpieces. "Those" Zatanna began as she pointed to the case that Dick had just opened "are your keys drivers, last time I checked they were prepped and ready to go."

"What's in Jamie's cases?" "a few tools for the cars and extra weapons and ammunition...just in case" Jamie answered. "All of the cars have been tuned, I installed nitros in all three and the button to activate it is behind the hand break" Jamie explained.

"Time for the crews" Dick started. "Zatanna, you'll ride with Artemis" Dick threw Artemis her car keys. "Connor and M'gann you're with Kaldur" he tossed Kaldur his keys, "and finally Wall-Man, Jamie you're with me" Dick said, he took his own set of keys out of the case and wiggled them at Wally.

"Everybody move out" Kaldur said, the team split up into their respective units and headed for their cars. Wally leaned against the side of Artemis' car. "I'll be right there the entire time, if anything goes wrong I've got your back" Wally said, he bent down and kissed her forehead. "Back off West, I'm her wing woman for this mission" Zatanna laughed from the passenger seat. Artemis put her hands on either side of Wally's face and pulled him into a deep kiss. It didn't last long before she climbed into the car and sped off.

* * *

Ipanema Docks, Rio De Janeiro

The docks were alive, a strange energy consumed everything in sight. To Artemis this was nothing new, she'd raced before, many times and she was damn good at it. To Zatanna this place was a new world, undiscovered. She watched as the lights and sounds slowly passed her by. The music that flowed from the trunks of customised cars, the almost naked women that danced where ever they could and the confidence that radiated from the drivers.

Zatanna looked over at her new partner, she watched as she breathed in the atmosphere and relaxed into her type of scene. This was her team mates wonderland, and she, had just taken a flying leap head first down the rabbit hole. "Nervous?" Artemis asked, "Excited" Zatanna replied. Artemis pulled the car up to the starting line and switched off the engine. She looked over at Zatanna a cheeky grin on her face. "Show time" Zatanna said, her grin matching that of her team mates.

The two left the car and were met by a dark skinned man in a grey jumpsuit, Zatanna couldn't help but stare at his perfectly combed afro in amazement.

"The name's Taj, welcome to my proving ground." He held out his hand to the blonde, Artemis reached out and shook his hand. "I'm Artemis" Taj took a moment to study the crescent moon tattoo on the blondes wrist. "Goddess of the hunt and moon, am I right?" Artemis laughed, "the one and only."

"Who's this pretty young thing?" Taj asked, his attention now on Zatanna. "Name's Zatanna" The raven haired beauty answered, as she shook his hand. "Well it's been a pleasure, the race starts in thirty. Good luck ladies" Taj said before he walked off to sign in the next driver.

As they looked over, the two girls noticed that the rest of the team had arrived, the only member that they couldn't locate was M'gann...

"That is a _sweet_ ride" the two women turned sharply to see one of their mugshots, right there, in the flesh.

"Cameron" Artemis said she did her best to keep her voice even. She leant back against her car and reminded herself to breathe, she could do this. "Long time no see Artemis, I'll be honest though, this comes as no surprise" Cameron said, he stepped closer to Artemis. Zatanna looked back over her shoulder, to grab the teams attention she subtly pressed her ear pierce. They'd be able to hear the whole exchange.

"My presence here doesn't surprise you?" Artemis asked, she kept her voice relaxed and casual. "Nope, not at all" Cameron started, "I know you Artemis, you live for the chase, the adrenaline that comes with the job. I always knew that you'd come back, it was one of the reasons I loved you."

Zatanna stepped up beside Artemis, she'd heard enough. It was a simple movement but it told Artemis that she wasn't alone. "You know...my current employers are on the hunt for the best drivers around, impress me tonight and I'll get you in" Cameron said, he was inches away from her face now, Artemis stood straight and refused to back down.

"What do you want me to do?" Artemis asked, she knew Cameron, there was always a condition to be met. "There's twenty drivers, all you need to do is place in the top three and you're in." "Childs play" Artemis laughed, she turned and began to walk away with Zatanna when Cameron's voice stopped her.

"I'd wish you luck, but I know you don't need it." Artemis looked back over her shoulder and took a good luck at Cameron one last time before the two women disappeared into the throng of people. Artemis pressed a finger to her ear piece, "team?" "we heard the whole thing" Dick answered. "Good job beautiful" Wally's voice crackled through her ear piece, that gravelly warm voice that she loved so much.

With Zatanna beside her and the rest of the team nearby she allowed herself to relax. "Team?" M'ganns voice was quiet through their comms, "go on M'gann..." Kaldur said, before she continued.

"I've spotted Louise Lincoln and Soloman Grundy, they're at the east side. But I can't get a clear shot without risking being made. Louise seems to be exchanging something with a man that I don't recognise from the files" M'gann reported. "Keep an eye on them M'gann. Artemis, Zatanna watch her back" Kaldurs voice commanded. "M'gann we're on our way to you, we'll give you the opening you need" Artemis said as the two women made their way through the crowds towards the exchange.

Artemis spotted a pimped up muscle car parked a few metres directly in front of M'gann's target, three large and muscular men were leant against the car, in an attempt to impress the ladies.

"Zee? I'm going to need you to work you're that magic of yours" she laughed, Zatanna followed Artemis' line of sight until she saw the men and laughed. "Watch and learn boys" Zatanna purred into her ear piece. "M'gann do you have a visual on an orange Charger?" Zatanna asked. "I have a visual" M'gann replied, "I think those lovely gentlemen would like a photograph" Zatanna said seductively.

The male members of the team watched on, hidden by the crowds of people as Zatanna and Artemis approached the men. "There's something incredibly sexy about American muscle" Zatanna purred, she cocked her hip and crosses her arms under her chest. She was fully aware of the way that the men looked her and Artemis up and down. Her plan had worked, with one sentence she'd demanded their full attention.

"What do you think of Brazilian muscle" one of the men said, he took a step forward, she inwardly laughed at his attempt to assert his dominance. Zatanna held her ground. Artemis stayed back and allowed Zatanna room to work her magic. "That depends what's under the hood" Zatanna said, she took a step closer to the man. Inwardly she wanted to throw up at the amount of sleaze that radiated off of him, but she kept her cool.

"Ten minutes until showtime racers!" Taj's voice boomed through the docks. "Rafael, time to move" one of the men behind him grunted, _Damn it! _The women thought, they needed M'gann now, their time was nearly up. "Before you go..." Zatanna purred as she ran a finger slowly down Rafael's chest, "May we get a photograph with you?...a little souvenir." Zatanna really wanted to throw up now, but now was her turn to take one for the team.

M'gann caught the hint through the radio, and went to walk past the car. "Hey chica, these lovely ladies would like a photograph" the man barked at M'gann. M'gann rushed over and lined up the shot as Artemis and Zatanna posed with the men, they were careful not to block M'gann's shot of her real target. "All done, they'll be waiting for you after race time" M'gann said sweetly before she disappeared. "All drivers to their cars!" Taj's voice boomed once again.

"That's your cue" Zatanna said to Artemis, the two slipped away behind M'gann.

Zatanna stood off to the side with M'gann as Artemis walked towards her car. Before she slipped inside she looked to her left and saw Dick and Wally were both looking her way, she nodded at the two and slipped into the car. "Good job ladies, now let's see what these cars can do" Dick said, he revved his engine confidently. Wally's voice came through Artemis' ear piece, soft and confident. "Good luck beautiful, I'll be waiting." Artemis smiled and waited for the fun to begin.

A young woman stood in front of the racers, her bikini top and short shorts a distraction to some of the male drivers. Artemis laughed at how easily a woman could distract men. "Listen up racers! The track loops around the outskirts of the favela and ends over the bridge at the opposite side of the docks. Now for the rules!..." The drivers listened intently, the sounds of their engines died down temporarily. "Anything goes!"

Artemis laughed to herself as the male driver next to her revved his engine excitedly, he stuck his head of the window and yelled towards her. "Yo, princess...this is no place for chicas!" Artemis simply winked at him and turned back to the bikini clad starter, that douche bag was her first target, there was no way she was about to let him finish this race.

"Ready! Steady..." The woman purred as she stopped to wink at who Artemis could have sworn was Dick. The sly dog.

"GO!"

Artemis screeched off of the line ahead of the male jackass next to her. She switched gears and slipped past another racer narrowly managing to avoid being hit by a car that had lost control. The standings had become clear now, as the crowd at the docks watched the race on the big screen a driver in a bright yellow skyline under the name of Lucas was in the lead, Artemis in second, the man who had started next to her who's name she now knew was Eduardo in third, Dick in fourth and some woman name gabriella in fifth. Kaldur was currently sixth.

As she rounded the first turn Artemis glanced back to see a small wreckage near the starting line, she looked at her in car computer that Jamie was feeding her race statistics to from his tablet and saw that four of the twenty drivers were out. Stuck in sixth position Kaldur knew that there was little room to perform an over take, he also knew that his best bet was to wait for the bridge and utilise his NOS.

Before Artemis could relax she felt a hard shunt on her left side, Eduardo was attempting to run her off of the track. "Can he do that?" M'gann asked as she watched the action unfold on the big screen, "anything goes remember" Connor answered. "Come on, think Artemis. You can shake this guy" Wally said, his voice tense. "Need a hand 'mis?" Dick asked, he was currently sat in the position behind Eduardo. After a moment Artemis answered, I've got this, but Dick you need to take this corner tight, stick close to the containers on the left."

As the sharp left turn approached, Artemis shifted gears. "This is for women everywhere, you sexist jackass." she braked hard, and sat back to watch as Eduardo skidded past the front of her. Instead of hitting her like he'd intended, he smashed side on into a shipping container. Artemis felt a small smug sense of satisfaction before she shot off to regain her position.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Do we have a surprise in store for you!" Taj announced to the crowd, loud speaker in hand. "If our drivers thought that the other racers were they're biggest challenge tonight, then they were wrong! Behold! The Kraken!"

The big screen changed to show the bridge over the dam. Suddenly the lights on the edges of the bridge began to flash and the bridge began to lift up like a drawbridge. Artemis and Dick rounded the final corner before the bridge. Artemis pressed in her ear piece her eyes wide in shock, "guys tell me you can see this too" "I see it, I just can't make myself believe it" Zatanna answered.

"How do you want to play this 'mis?" Dick asked as she pulled level with him for second place. "I have a plan but I don't like it...Wally?" she asked nervously. "Punch it beautiful, wait until you hit the bridge and activate you're NOS, it'll give you the boost you need to clear the gap and hopefully land in full control of the car."

"You get that Dick?" Artemis asked, as she watched the gap get wider. "Loud and clear." As they sped towards the blinding lights of the bridge, they watched Lucas hit his NOS early and barely make the bridge. "Not yet..." Wally mumbled as the two got even closer to the gap in the bridge. "Now!"

The two hit their buttons and their cars kicked into turbo. They flew across the gap and landed safely on the other side, barely able to keep control of their cars. In front of them they watched as Lucas who was currently the race leader skid off and slammed sideways into a shipping container.

"I'm won't be able to make the bridge, what should I do?" Kaldur asked, the gap was fully open now and any racers that attempted to jump it were either stupid or suicidal. "Hold back, it looks like there will only be three finishers, two of them are our drivers" Wally answered.

As Dick and Artemis sped past they saw Lucas compose himself after he hit his steering wheel a few times and angrily speed off after them. "Final corner, ready for glory 'mis?" Dick laughed. "Last one over the line cooks dinner" Artemis replied before she sped off in front of Dick. The team held their breaths as they waited near the finish line, this was it, the moment that would set the whole plan into motion.

The seconds ticked by too slow for Wally's liking before he saw his beloved Nissan drift over the finish line Dick's Nissan right behind it.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We have a winner!" Taj boomed, he made his way over to Artemis and held the door of the car open for her. He took her hand and held it up high in the air victorious. "That was some impressive driving, come by my garage this time next week...I have a proposition for you." He handed her wad of cash held together by an elastic band and walked over to Dick.

Artemis presumed that he would offer the same thing proposition to Dick.

Artemis pressed her com, "Kal? What's the next move?" "I am almost to the finish line, return to the cave we need to be seen to have left separately" Kaldur answered calmly. Zatanna ran over to Artemis and hugged her, "you did it!" she said as she jumped up and down with Artemis in her grasp. Artemis laughed and handed her the wad of cash, "here, I got you a present."

Laughing, the two girls fist bumped and climbed into the car. Artemis caught sight of Wally who sent her a big lopsided grin before he climbed into the car next to Dick.

"Jamie, I've got one hell of a dent in my left side panel" Artemis said into the com as she drove away, Dick, Wally and Jamie close behind. "Don't worry 'mis I'll work my magic when we get back to the cave, it'll be like new" Jamie laughed.

After a few minutes of driving Zatanna spoke up "Guys, anyone else feel that" she asked, she looked to Artemis who nodded silently back at her. "We're being tailed" Dick said his voice low and tense, he looked at Wally whose face showed the same concern as his own.

"What do we do? We can't lead them back to the cave and these guys are good to have followed us this far" Artemis said, she kept a sharp eye on her surroundings and tried in vain to locate their followers. "We stay somewhere else for the night, there has to be a motel around here somewhere" Zatanna answered, she brought up the GPS on her phone and searched for the nearest hotel.

She turned to Artemis a mischievous grin on her face, "take the next right..."

"Kaldur? You get that?" Wally asked, "I copy, don't worry about us M'gann will track your locations and we'll rendezvous with you at the motel."

* * *

Cara-Mara Motel, Ipanema slums

The team hid their cars in a dark back alley a few streets away from the motel. "What now?" Dick asked as the five of them approached the main entrance of the run down motel that Zatanna had chosen. Apparently the more run down the motel was, the less likely anyone would be to find them. Zatanna turned to Dick, "I'll do what I do best, but I'll need a distraction" she said her eyes locked instantly on Artemis. "Oh...no, no that's not my style Zee..." Artemis protested but Zatanna pushed her forward towards the doors. "Show us why Wally fell in love with you" Zatanna laughed. Artemis groaned and headed towards the entrance.

It was a good job that she'd been doing this since she was little. She walked confidently into the motel and immediately caught the attention of the young man behind the desk. "Welcome to the Cara-Mara motel, how may I be of service?" Artemis walked up to the front desk and leant forward, she gave the man her best seductive look before she answered.

"I'm a little lost, maybe you can help me?" "Ah, you're lost...let me see I have a map around here somewhere." When the young man began to search the desk Zatanna entered the room, and crouched at her feet, Artemis took the hint. "Do you think maybe you could point me in the direction of the nearest garage? I have no idea where anything is around here I blew a tyre on the way here and I could really use the help" Artemis said in her best damsel in distress voice. She hated when she had to play the damsel in distress.

The man walked from behind the desk and guided her to the door, a hand on her lower back. Artemis began to stiffen before she met Zatanna's eyes, if she blew this they were screwed. As the two of them left the motel she caught sight of Dick, Jamie and Wally, they were stood having what appeared to be an argument in french.

"The nearest garage is two blocks that way" the man said as he pointed down the road, "once you reach the second block take a left and it's at the end of that road." Once the man had finished his explanation and turned to go back inside the motel Artemis waved the three of them over, they snuck in behind him but once inside there was no sign of Zatanna anywhere.

They crept round the corner and were met by the sight of Zatanna with her stolen room key in hand and smug grin on her face. "If you'd like to follow me I'll escort you to your room" she laughed. The team laughed as they watched Zatanna turn on her heel and disappear up the staircase.

Two floors later and the team arrived at their room for the night. "Room three zero six, you're welcome" Zatanna beamed as she unlocked the door and made her way inside. "How long do you think until the rest of the team gets here?" Dick asked as Zatanna plopped herself on the big bed. "Soon I hope" Artemis replied, she stood in front of the window and looked out, her nervousness evident in her posture.

With nothing but each other to occupy them the next hour passed ridiculously slowly. Zatanna and Artemis were sat on the bed cleaning their guns and talking about the race. Dick, Jamie and Wally were sat on the couch deep in conversation about the many different ways that Artemis' father was going kill Wally when he heard that he and Artemis were now engaged.

While Dick and Jamie laughed hysterically at Wally's misfortunes Artemis and Zatanna's heads snapped up in synch. They both quickly reassembled their weapons and jumped off of the bed, their guns trained on the door and window.

Before they could move to properly check the area their comms crackled to life. "Can anyone hear me?" "M'gann?" Artemis asked worry flooded her voice. "Artemis? Thank god" M'gann said her voice quivered and the team knew instantly that something was wrong. "They...they crashed into us. The car it..it flipped, Connor and I managed to crawl out and hide. They took Kaldur and..." M'gan began to sob through the com.

"M'gann I need you to listen to me, you and Connor need to get back to the cave as soon as you can, make sure you're not followed and we'll meet up with you soon. We'll get Kaldur back I promise" Dick said, he hoped to reassure the poor now sobbing woman.

M'gann mumbled a teary ok before the com went dead.

The tension in the room became unbearable a crackling electricity played on all of their nerves, Zatanna's gun still pointed at the door while Artemis had hers firmly fixed on the window.

Wally was the first to notice the out of place red dot fixed over Artemis' heart...


	4. Made

**I've been reading through all of your lovely reviews and after my**** incredible weekend in Liverpool I have decided that I'm going to give you chapter 4 a day early! I'm hungover and want to throw up everything in my stomach but your reviews made me feel a little bit better so thank you so much. **

**Just to keep you all updated, I'm currently working on chapter 6 and hope to continue to post a chapter a day :)**

**As usual nothing in this fic is owned by me :( boo**

* * *

Cara – Mara Motel, Ipanema Slums

For Wally everything that happened next, happened in slow motion. Wally leapt out of his seat his only thoughts on protecting his girlfriend. "Hit the floor!" Dick yelled, Wally barely heard him as he tackled Artemis to the ground as the window that she'd been guarding seconds before shattered into thousands of pieces. In a strange way they reminded Wally of what could happen to his life if this mission went wrong, kind of like it was doing now. He looked up from his position on the floor as the bullet embedded itself into the wall. The room fell into a tense unnerving silence, Artemis looked up at Wally to see that he had used his own body as a shield. A moment later and she'd have taken the hit. The fear and determination on his face mirrored her own as she realised that he was willing to die to protect her.

"Of course it had to be a sniper...why the hell is there a god damn sniper after us?" Zatanna yelled, "I have no idea, but we need to leave, now" Wally snapped. "Is anyone hurt?" Dick asked, everyone in the room shook their heads and Dick released a relieved sigh. "We need to steer clear of any points of weakness, that means windows and doors, stick to the floor until we make it out into the hallway" Artemis said, she slid her gun into the back of her shorts and made for the exit.

* * *

"_Good work today." M'gann looked up, the ride so far had been quiet, tense. The last thing that she had expected was a compliment from a man that she'd only known for a few days._

"_Thank you" she replied politely, a pink blush crept across her cheeks. "M'gann what is the status of the rest of the team?" Kaldur asked from the front of the car. She looked down at her PDA, "They're a few miles west of our location, stay on this road for another mile" she answered before she went back to staring dreamily out of the window._

_Tonight had gone surprisingly well, minus the tail that the team had had to lose. They had managed to get two out of three of their racers into the cartels ranks and capture photographic evidence of some kind of deal going down between Louise Lincoln, Solomon Grundy and a mystery man. This could be the break that they needed._

_M'gann looked out of the window and allowed herself a small smile, so far this had been a good day._

_Her joy didn't last long as something hard slammed into her, and pushed her down into her seat..._

_Connor..._

_She craned her head upwards and saw that Connor was leant over her, braced with one hand on the seat in front and one on the car door. __It all happened in a matter of seconds, for M'gann time became a terrifying blur flashing past her aggressively. Kaldur looked back at Connor and calmly explained something to him, M'gann couldn't make out what Kaldur had said, all she could hear was the frantic sound of her own heartbeat. Connor simply nodded. That's when it hit them._

_M'gann's vision slowly came into focus, she blinked away the black spots and forced herself to calm down. She was upside down, held into the car by her seat belt. Kaldur had taught her a long time ago that the best thing to do in an emergency was to take a breath and identify any injuries. So she took breath and thought, her arm hurt, bad, but other than that she felt ok. Terrified, but ok._

_Kaldur hung upside down in the front seat. M'gann looked around frantically, where the hell was Connor? __M'gann tensed as her door was ripped off of its hinges, she turned to face the door and waited silently to discover who it was that was about to finish her off._

_Connor._

_His mouth was moving but all M'gann could hear was the sickening crunch of the cars metal as they had been hit. __He leant into the car and ripped out M'gann's seat belt, he held her weight in one arm and slowly lowered her down as the seat belt gave way. __His words seemed more urgent now, desperate. His eyes full of something that she just couldn't place, was this a nightmare? Or was it worse than that?_

_He carefully pulled her clear of the wreckage and began to move her away from the car. "No! Kaldur! I won't leave him!" She screamed, her hands beat rhythmically against his arms as he carried her away. No matter how much or how hard she hit him, he wouldn't put her down. He wouldn't no he couldn't leave her._

_She glanced back and saw that Kaldur was hurt, his mouth moved, and his face was contorted. He was clearly in pain..they couldn't just walk away and leave him. But that's exactly what Connor did, M'gann secure in his arms._

_The two of them hid behind a large rock pile as two men approached the wreck, they just hid there like cowards and watched as the men dragged Kaldur violently out through the cars now glassless window. What did they want? What were they about to do to him? __They continued to drag him, with no care for his injuries. M'gann continued to watch as they loaded him into the back of their car and drove off. She was beyond pissed now._

"You...you left him! He was trapped and helpless, he needed our help and you walked away!" M'gann screamed, her fists connecting with Connor's broad chest. Connor just stood there, his eyes searched every inch of her. What the hell was he doing? "Say something!" M'gann screeched. The palm of her hand connected hard with Connor's cheek.

M'gann backed up, the realisation of what she had just done had begun to dawn on her.

Connor reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Are you finished?" M'gann nodded, ashamed of her outburst. "Look at me" Connor said, his voice soft and gentle. Slowly M'gann lifted her head and her eyes met his. "Are you ok?" This caught her off guard. She took a moment and mentally checked herself. "I'm ok, my arm hurts really bad though." She held her right arm up and Connor examined it, his rough hands ran smoothly over it. M'gann gasped as he hit a small lump on her forearm.

"I think it's broken" he answered, he looked down at her sympathetically. M'ganns vision became blurred, teary. "What about Kaldur? We need to help him" M'gann said weakly. Then the tears began to fall. "We'll get him back, I promise you. But we need the rest of the team" Connor answered. M'gann nodded and pressed in her comm.

* * *

Zatanna cautiously opened the door, and crept out into the hallway, her gun drawn and Artemis right behind her. "The hallway's clear" Dick, Jamie and Wally exited the motel room. "Our safest bet is to get back to the cars" Dick said, his eyes scanned the hallway out of habit.

"How wrong you were miss" a deep, cold voice said from the opposite end of the hall. The man stepped into the light, the black and orange panels on his bullet proof vest reflected the light from the window behind them a reminder of just how vulnerable they were. Artemis froze as a number of clicks followed, she'd know that sound anywhere.

"Guns! Everyone into the stairwell now!" Artemis yelled, she pushed Zatanna through the door first and began to run downwards towards the cars, towards the only chance of escape that they had.

As they rounded the corned for the next flight of stairs they were cut off by gunfire from below. "Where now?" Zatanna yelled as she skilfully dodged a number of scattered bullets. Onto this floor, we'll have to find a way down from here" Wally replied he turned and ran through the door to the hall, the rest of the team behind him.

They were met with no initial resistance in the hallway, that didn't mean that they were safe just yet though. "They're close behind us" Artemis said breathlessly as she came through the door last. "We're trapped on this level" Jamie said, panic kicked in and his breathing quickened. Artemis walked over and took his hand. "Jamie look at me, I promise you I'll do what ever it takes to get you out of here. But right now we need you focused."

He looked up at her nodded, his breathing slowed as Artemis handed him her spare gun, "use it if necessary."

"They'll be on us in seconds, what's our next move?" Zatanna asked, she scanned the hallway but couldn't seem to find a way out. "I noticed as we came in that there's a fire escape that runs up the right side of the building" Dick said, the sounds of the men after them were closer now, they didn't have much time.

"It'll have to do" Wally said firmly, he picked a door and in one swift motion kicked it open. The team rushed into the room and Dick closed the door behind them. They could hear the men in the hallway cursing. They had just bought themselves valuable seconds. Wally rushed over to the large window at the end of the room and pried it open, sure enough there was a fire escape right next to it. "Right Zatanna, Artemis you go first them Jamie and Dick, I'll follow."

Artemis wanted to object, wanted him to go first, but she knew that arguing with him was useless. She knew that it was selfish of her but she couldn't help it. She wanted no needed him to be safe. Zatanna dived out of the fire escape followed closely by Artemis, As she climbed onto the platform the door burst open. "Open fire!" Dick shoved Wally onto the platform as the window shattered and showered Zatanna, Artemis and Wally with glass.

Dick thrust Jamie onto the platform next and followed quickly behind him. As Dick, Jamie and Wally climbed down the fire escape, Artemis and Zatanna stood at the bottom and returned fire on the men that were after them.

The gunfire became more relentless, Zatanna looked over at Artemis. "We need to buy them more time" "Then we'll stand our ground" Artemis replied. Wally, Dick and Jamie leapt from the fire escape and made for their car. "Go we'll cover you!" Zatanna shouted, she managed to hit one of the men in the shoulder as they ran for cover.

Artemis waited until Dick started up his engine before she turned back to Zatanna. "Run!" The two stopped their fire and raced to their car. Bullets ricocheted off of the side of the car as the two jumped in, Artemis hit the gas and sped off.

She caught one last look at the man that had set these events into motion, she knew exactly what this meant. The hunt was on.

Connor and M'gann arrived at the cave to find it empty, after the events of the day M'gann was worried. "Wait here" Connor instructed, he walked over to the armoury and took down two hand guns, he loaded one and handed it to M'gann. "I'll check the rest of the warehouse, stay here I'll be back before you know it." He walked off and left M'gann sat at the centre console with a loaded gun in her hands and her best friend missing.

Connor seemed to be gone forever, M'gann booted up one of the many laptops in the cave careful not to move her arm too much and checked for any fresh news on the cartel. What she found was bad news...

Things were wrong, the cave was quiet. Too quiet, the rest of the team should have been back by now. Connor heard the rev of a car engine, worried about M'gann's safety he raced from the garage back into the main hanger his gun drawn and ready to fire. He felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest, if anything happened to M'gann he wouldn't be able to forgive himself not after he promised Kaldur he'd protect her. Dick stopped the engine and stepped out of the car slowly, his hands raised. "It's only us" he said hesitantly. Connor lowered his gun and sighed. "Sorry, it's been a very tense day" he moved to stand back next to M'gann, she immediately handed him the gun back.

Artemis and Zatanna pulled into the garage as Wally and Jamie stepped out of the car. "M'gann are you ok?" Zatanna asked as she rushed over to hug the teary woman. Before M'gann had the chance to answer, Jamie collapsed, Artemis barely managed to catch him before he hit the floor. "Jamie? Jamie stay with me!" Artemis shouted as she laid him on the hard floor. It was then that she noticed it. "Oh god no, please not this way..Wally I need a first aid kit now!"

Without a word Wally raced out of the room and returned a minute later, first aid kit in hand. Artemis and Dick knelt over Jamie while Zatanna, M'gann and Connor stood back and allowed them to work. M'gann couldn't take it, not after they had already lost Kaldur. She burst into tears, Connor and Zatanna exchanged a look before Connor pulled her into his chest.

"Artemis?" Jamie's voice was cracked and raspy, he hated how weak his voice sounded. "Whatever happens..." "Jamie don't, please don't talk like, that you're going to be ok" Artemis pleaded. Her eye's teared up as Jamie's began to glaze over, his breathing became slow and laboured. "Artemis please, what ever happens you need to show those sons of bitches what happens when you mess with our familia. And Arty...thank you...thank you for taking me in, for being the sister I always wanted." Artemis couldn't hold them back anymore, silently the tears fell.

"Wally...take care of my sister, hermano" Wally looked at him sadly, the kid had so much to live for. "I will. I promise" As his blood continued to flow through the cracks in Artemis' fingers he released his last breath.

"Don't you dare Jamie! Don't you dare leave us!" Artemis sobbed, her head on his unmoving chest. M'gann sobbed quietly into Connors chest while Zatanna stared at the floor, she hadn't really known Jamie, but he'd seemed like a good kid. Not like the criminals that they all were he didn't deserve to go out like this.

Wally gently pulled his girlfriend off of Jamie's all too lifeless body and pulled her into him. Her head in the crook of his neck, the warehouse fell into a mournful silence, before the sound of artemis' cracked sobs filled the void. Wally rubbed circles on her back in an effort to calm her down. After a few moments of crying it seemed to work, Artemis broke apart from Wally. She leant over and gently shut Jamie's eyes.

She stood up and began to speak, her voice dangerous. "He didn't deserve this, he was a good kid. We were his only family and I promised him that I'd protect him, I failed." She walked over to the armoury and reloaded her gun. "They made it personal. Zatanna I need you to run a name for me" Artemis said, she tucked her gun back into her shorts. "Who?" Zatanna asked, Emotions ran high and the team were willing to do what ever it took to avenge the deaths of both Jamie and Jason.

"Slade Wilson. Dick I need you to keep an ear on the radio, anything related to the cartel or Kaldur report back" Artemis ordered, Someone needed to step up and take action, right now that someone seemed to be her.

"I think M'gann broke her arm in the crash, is it safe for me to take her to a hospital?" Connor asked, Artemis looked over to dick for an answer. "Sure, but you'll need these" he walked over to a small metal box and typed in a code. He took out two small plastic cards and handed them over to Connor. These are you're fake identities, M'gann is Isabella Monroe and Connor you're Malcolm Duncan. "You'll need these too" Dick said, he threw Connor his car keys and turned back to his work on the radio.

"Be careful guys" Artemis added as the two climbed into the car and left. "Can anyone else hear that?" Wally asked, he moved closer to the subtle beeping that he could hear. The beeps led him to Artemis' car, Wally laid on the floor and slid himself under the car.

He reappeared a minute later, a small metal disk in hand. "Tracker." "Shit, we need to leave, taking down the cartel was dangerous before but now...now it's close to impossible. We need more room to breathe not less" Zatanna said, worry evident on her face."Zatanna's right" Wally started. "We'll head out, allow Slade to track us and buy us some time." Wally stopped and placed his hands on Artemis' shoulders.

"First though, we'll lay Jamie to rest."

* * *

"If you'd like to take a seat and fill out this form, a doctor will be with you in a moment." Connor took the clipboard and pen from the nurse and escorted M'gann to the seating area.

M'gann looked around the waiting room, the walls were painted a cracked pale green and there were people scattered everywhere. The room smelled like a mixture of disinfectant and sick, M'gann really didn't want to be here but if she was injured she needed to get checked out. Injuries like this could put the team in danger if left untreated.

Connor took the fake ID from M'gann and began to fill the medical form in. "What's you're story?" M'gann asked quietly from beside him. Connor stopped and look over at her, "my what?" "You're story" M'gann repeated. "How you got into the game" M'gann finished. "Oh...I um...Me and my dad don't really get along, I left home at fifteen. It was the only real choice that I felt I had" Connor answered. M'gann looked up at him, they had all chosen this life, she knew that. But it wasn't that simple, each of them had been pushed into it by some unfortunate event in their lives.

"What about you?" Connor asked, he'd returned to her paperwork. "Things were rough back home so I left to live with my uncle in Atlanta, he was never around much so I had to fend for myself. Luckily I met Kaldur." M'gann's voice shook as she remembered that her friend was still missing.

Connor's eyes swept across the hospital waiting room, he'd kept his eye on every single person in the small hospital room so far. The team had already been hit twice today alone, he wasn't about to risk anything happening again. He'd promised Kaldur that he'd protect the woman next to him, and even if he hadn't made that promise Connor had warmed to her. She was sweet and surprisingly innocent and joyful for their line of work. She was everything that Connor wasn't and right now he needed that, hell he might even go as far as to say that he liked that.

"How are you holding up?" Connor asked quietly M'gann's paperwork sat completed in his lap. "I'm ok I guess, I'll sleep better once we get Kaldur back. I'm his partner, I can't leave him at the mercy of those monsters" M'gann replied weakly. There was a strange nausea rising in her stomach. "We will, don't worry. As soon as we find out exactly who we're dealing with and where they're keeping him we'll get him back" Connor answered. He placed a comforting hand on M'gann's leg, M'gann looked up at him with wide doe eyes, She relaxed a little and leant her head on his shoulder, his hand somehow found it's way into hers.

"Miss Monroe, the doctor will see you now."

* * *

The Cave, Rio de Janeiro

Artemis stood at the side of the river and watched as the rough waves destroyed everything in their path. She couldn't help but notice the comparison between the waves and her own life. She took a deep breath and tasted the hot salty air in the back of her throat.

She'd been a part of this sick, painful game since birth, trained and used by her father to be a master con artist and thief from an incredibly early age. She never asked to be a part of this life, she'd even tried to leave it once. Big mistake. For her disobedience her father sent her a strong message, instead of punishing her, he punished her mother instead. His message left her mother confined to a wheel chair for the rest of her life, helpless and completely at his mercy. Her sister ran away because of her mistake, ran away and left her also at the mercy of a loveless father.

Now she'd lost someone else that she loved, all because of a life that she wanted no part of to begin with. A life that seemed to be hard wired into her systems and no matter how many times she tried to turn her back on it, it'd always drag her back in. She'd loved Jamie like a brother, she'd taken him in when he was only fifteen, he'd ran away from home, from an abusive step father. She knew all too well what it was that he was trying to escape from.

She showed him the ropes in the garage, even sent him on various courses. By his seventeenth birthday he was a fully qualified mechanic, but he was so much more than that. He was family. He was only seventeen years old, so young, so innocent. He was never a part of this life, her and Wally had always done their best to keep him out of it. She'd brought him here. His blood was on her hands.

Dick and Wally looked on, worried as Artemis continued to stare at the waves. Jamies body lay on the bank by her feet, they were going to bury him under the sand. Jamie loved the beach, loved the sand, the water, it's what he would have wanted. Somehow though she couldn't bring herself to do it, she couldn't make her self let go.

Artemis knelt down next to his body, she slipped her hand into his shirt pocket and pulled out the polaroid that she knew he always held onto. It was a photo of the day that everything changed. It showed Jamie stood inbetween Artemis and Wally, his new car keys held proudly in his hand and the goofiest grin on his face. She slipped the photo into the pocket of her shorts, it was time to say goodbye.

She planted a small kiss onto his forehead and got to her feet.

"Will she be ok?" Dick asked, his eyes on Artemis as he watched her shakily make it to her feet. Wally nodded. "She'll finish this job for him and for Jason, she's tough. It's going to hit her the hardest when we get home, his car's still in the garage." Wally answered.

The two walked over to stand beside her, "ready beautiful?" Wally asked. "It's time to let go" Artemis replied shakily, she couldn't say anything else, unable to trust her own voice she stood there silent. Dick and Wally gently placed Jamie's body into the grave that they'd dug for him and began to fill it up with sand.

Artemis couldn't do anything more than watch. She stared back out at the waves and played with the jade green rosary around her neck. It matched the rosary that Jamie was wearing. It was their thing, something that Jamie believed in and Artemis had gone along with for him. It was something that had gotten him through the hard times.

Now it was her grip on reality, her way of surviving the hard times.

The three walked back inside the warehouse to find that M'gann and Connor had returned, M'ganns arm was in a pale pink cast and their hands were intertwined. Before anyone could say anything Zatanna stood from her seat at the console and pulled Artemis into a much needed hug. "What ever you need, just say." "Thank you" Artemis replied, her voice no longer weak and untrusted. They needed a leader.

"What's our next move?" Connor asked, to most a question like that at a time like this would be insensitive, to this group it was necessary. "We get Slade's attention" Artemis started. "Like Zee said earlier, we need more room to breathe. The best way to get that is by showing him that we won't back down, get him to back off even if it only gives us a twenty-four hour window." Artemis finished.

"We also need to know why Kaldur was taken, he might have information for us" Dick added. "Our best bet is to be seen somewhere public, lots of people, lots of cameras" Dick said. "Meet him in public? Ballsy move" Zatanna laughed. "Dick's right, he'll have the entire military network behind him. Like us he'll have access to every camera on the planet and you can bet he's running facial recognition software on us after that scene at the motel." Artemis explained.

"Rio's got a huge underground racing scene, I'll search for any car shows going on tonight" Wally said. "How do you know so much about this man?" M'gann asked curiously. "Artemis and I both have military backgrounds, my father's military as is her uncle. We've heard the legends about this guy" Dick explained.

"Care to share?" Connor asked.

"Basically he's the guy that the feds call when they need to find someone. He's seriously old testament, shoot first ask questions later. He'll bring the wrath of god and more." Artemis explained. "And he's hunting us?" Zatanna groaned. "I found one, tonight at the parking structure of the old mall" Wally announced, he grabbed Dicks keys off of the table and made for the car.

"Connor you're with us. M'gann get some rest it's been a long day, Zatanna, Artemis stay in radio contact with us and give us any information you can get on either him, the cartel or Kaldur." Dick finished and climbed into the car after Connor and Wally.

This long day, was about to get a hell of a lot longer...


	5. This is Brazil!

**I'm so sorry that I accidentally posted the wrong chapter :( silly moi. **

**I would also like to say that as I'm in my final year of University and I have so much work to do, this will be my last fic, probably ever, who knows. Thank you to everyone who's enjoyed any of my stories and thank you to all of the authors who have inspired me. **

**I don't own Young Justice or The fast and the furious franchise. **

* * *

The Cave, Rio de Janeiro

"This is one hell of a plan" Zatanna laughed, she was safe here tucked away inside the cave yet she was still incredibly nervous. "Even I have to admit, way too much can go wrong here" Artemis groaned as her eyes scanned the file on the computer monitor. "I'm sorry about Jamie" Zatanna said, her hand on the blondes shoulder. Artemis spun around to face the girl that she now considered to be her best friend. "Don't be, it wasn't your fault. There was nothing we could do to save him, he wouldn't want us to sit around and grieve, it wasn't his style" she laughed softly.

"Hey ladies, anything more interesting facts you can tell us about this Slade guy?" Wally asked his voice light and cheeky over the com. "Whoa, I'm totally still not used to other people in my head" Zatanna laughed. Artemis laughed and spun her chair back around to face the computer screen.

Her eyes scanned the screen rapidly. "All I can gather from his file is that he's one hell of a hand to hand combat fighter, expert mixed martial artist, ex black ops and he has impeccable aim. He goes under the alias of Deathstroke, probably for the intimidation factor" Artemis answered.

"Thanks for the heads up babe, think I could take him if it came down to it?" Wally asked, Artemis could picture the huge dopey grin plastered on her fiancés face. "Honestly babe? Not a chance...Dick would probably stand a decent chance though" Artemis answered sweetly, Zatanna's whole body shook with laughter and she nearly fell off the side of her chair. "You wound me beautiful" Wally laughed, it was that warm gravelly laugh that sent chills up Artemis' spine. The one that he usually saved for when they were alone.

"This is the place, stick with us you two we may need assistance if this goes south" Dick ordered, "we'll be in your heads the entire time, good luck boys" Zatanna said her voice oozing sweetness before the comm went quiet.

"This is a risky plan dude" Wally said nervously as the three parked up in one of the outside spaces. "It's definitely risky, but we can't afford not to take risks at this point. This could give us a priceless time window" Dick answered. "Plus...We've got muscles here on our side" he finished, a strong hand squeezed Connor's shoulder. Connor looked down at him "don't touch me and never call me muscles again" Connor grunted.

They walked further into the crowds of people, "we need to get ourselves uploaded" Dick said, while Wally and Connor tried to figure out what he meant, Dick scanned the crowd until he found his target. "Over there" Dick said, Wally followed his line of sight to a group of girls sat around a pink convertible. "Dude, Artemis will kill me" he groaned, "you just asked her to marry you, I think she'll allow you to flirt shamelessly this once" Dick laughed. "It's true baywatch, you should really listen to Dick more" Artemis laughed, her voice startled him. Dick laughed at his friends jumpiness. Connor lived up to his silent muscle stereotype and wordlessly followed behind them.

"Time to show us you're inner playboy Dick" Wally joked, this earned him a jab in the ribs. "Little Dicky birds a playboy huh?" Zatanna teased over the radio. Dick shot Wally his best glare. Wally lived with Artemis, after her glares Dick's was the equivalent of pulling the puppy dog eyes. "If you ask nicely I'll show you sometime" Dick said seductively. There was a moment of stunned silence before Zatanna replied. "You really want me to ask nicely over the comm?" her voice a low purr.

Dick froze, "let's just get this over with." Wally and Connor laughed between themselves as Dick made his way over to the group of girls. He'd seen this type of girl before, playful, flirty...superficial. Easy targets. "That is some nice body work" Dick said, he let out a low whistle and made sure to be obvious about checking out the woman in front of him.

"Smooth Grayson, smooth" Zatanna whispered through the radio. Wally and Connor watched from the sidelines, it had just become incredibly difficult not to laugh. Dick tensed, normally he wouldn't have a problem getting up close and personal with a woman to get what he wanted, hell he's done it many times on many jobs and it's worked every single time. However, this time was different, this time he had Zatanna in his head.

Zatanna...Dick froze, he'd never really stopped to think about her. The two of them had had this connection from their first day in Rio, it was different compared to Dick's previous relationships. She was funny, smart, cunning...he loved how mischievous she could be, not to mention she's his perfect type in the looks department.

The woman's mouth moved, but Dick was elsewhere. "Wally? Time to turn on the charm" Artemis ordered, a look of total confusion passed between Artemis and Zatanna. This was Dick Grayson, _the Dick Grayson _he was legendary on the circuit. What the hell would cause him to freeze?

When Zatanna had first met him she could tell he was smooth, the typical playboy type. She could also see something else, something in his eyes and the way that he had looked at her. She hadn't been able to put her finger on it until now.

Wally walked up and threw an arm around Dick's shoulders. "What my friend here was trying to say is that you all look remarkably sexy tonight." One of the women stepped closer to Wally and ran a finger down his chest. "You don't look so bad yourself _red_" Wally had to remind himself to breathe, this was part of the job Artemis knew that it meant nothing, she'd said that herself right?

"Do you think me and my friend could get a picture with you lovely ladies?" Dick asked, his confidence restored at the appearance of his longtime wingman. The women giggled and crowded around the two, one of them took Dicks phone. "Ready, say Rio!" "Rio!" the phone flashed a bright white and the woman handed the phone back to Dick. "Thank you ladies, have a nice night" Dick winked at them and him and Wally walked back over to Connor. "What now?" Connor asked, amused at the scene he'd just witnessed.

"Now we wait, I've uploaded the photo onto the internet, it'll be a matter of minutes until Slade finds it and tracks us here" Dick answered.

"Guys, we have news on Kaldur. According to radio chatter they're keeping him in one of The Count's money houses on the north side of Ipanema." Zatanna explained, hope in her voice. "Keep an ear out ladies, let us know if you hear anything else. And Zee, good work" Dick said. "Guys, we have company" Wally said, he sat back casually on the hood of the car and steadied his breathing, time to see how stupid a plan this really was.

Connor stood stiffly, ready to draw his weapon if necessary while Dick stepped forward to meet the team that was marching towards them.

"Richard Grayson, I have to say I'm not impressed." Slade stopped a few feet away from Dick, his team behind him. "Why would that be?" Dick asked, his voice strong, confident.

The area around them fell silent.

"You were too easy to track down, caught you on a traffic camera not long after you left your little hang out. This is probably my most boring hunt yet." "Don't let him bait you Dick, stick to the plan" Artemis reminded him.

"What do you want?" Connor snapped, they didn't have time to play cat and mouse. "Connor Kent, honestly I'm surprised to see you here, I thought that nearly killing that man would have been enough to blacklist you for good" Slade boomed a cocky edge to his tone. He wanted a show.

Dick and Wally did their best to cover their surprise, so this guy knew about them, no big deal.

"Guys bad news..." Wally and Dick froze, something had Artemis spooked and she didn't spook easily. What ever it is, it's big.

"We've been made..."

The words hit them hard, this was going to make the rest of the plan insanely difficult. All undercover work was now out of the window. "Why are you here Slade?" Dick asked, his patience all but gone. "You're under arrest, we got the assignment the moment you entered Brazil" Slade explained.

"I don't feel under arrest, what about you Wall-Man?" "Nope, not even a little" Wally replied. "Come with us now and we'll spare the rest of your team." Slade said, he drew his gun but the team remained defiant. "Our team is just fine" Dick answered confidently, he seen plenty of intimidation tactics before to know when to hold his ground. "For now...as we speak the cartel are moving in on your little playhouse, I'm sure I don't need to remind you that they prefer to shoot first and ask questions later."

Wally cracked. "Artemis, listen to me. You need to get out of there now, all of you." Slade grinned, "It's too late boys, you had you're chance." They could hear Artemis muffled voice through their comms, the next thing they heard was rapid gun fire. Wally's heart sank. "We'll give you a twenty-four hours to turn yourselves in, after that...anything goes..." Slade waved his hand and his team turned back towards their vehicles.

* * *

_The Cave, Rio de Janeiro_

_They couldn't believe what they had just heard, not only had they all been made but now the cartel knew exactly where to find them. Time had ran out. _

"_Zee, grab the nearest laptop and make a run for the garage, stay low_" _Artemis said, she grabbed her gun and phone off of the table. "What about you?" Zatanna asked, "I'll get M'gann and meet you there." __The two ran off in separate directions, they could only hope now that who ever came for them wouldn't try to hard to find them._

_Artemis burst into the dorm room and shook M'gann's shoulders, "Artemis?" M'gann asked, her voice heavy from sleep. "M'gann we need to move now, I'll explain later." _

_M'gann got up off of the bed and raced after Artemis, her head cloudy from the pain in her arm. She grabbed hold of one of her hands and together the two ran for the garage. As they passed by the rows of equipment Artemis bagged every set of keys that she could find, they were going to need them if the cartel decided to check the warehouse._

"_Stay low" Artemis whispered. The two were almost at the elevator when the gunfire began. _

_Zatanna braced herself under a steel table in the garage, the sound of bullets as they tore through the metal structure of the warehouse echoed around her. Followed by loud metallic groans, "come on Artemis where are you?" Zatanna whispered furiously to herself. __She couldn't, no she wouldn't leave without them._

_She crawled out from under the table and made for the ramp to the upper level cautiously, she picked up the pace when the sound of gun fire silenced. The groans became louder, she tried to put them to the back of her mind and carry on, she had to find Artemis and M'gann. _

_That was when the warehouse came down..._

* * *

When Wally, Dick and Connor arrived at the warehouse their hearts stopped.

Where the warehouse used to stand, there was now only rubble and twisted metal. A few sections of the warehouse still stood, twisted and warped. Left to stand as a warning from the cartel. Parked up next to the shoreline were Artemis' Nissan and the two bikes, it became painfully obvious that the three of them hadn't made it out of the warehouse in time.

The three men stood there, unable to do anything but stare at the devastation. To look on and each feel their own pain. Connor thought of M'gann, how he'd promised Kaldur that he would protect her. Kaldur...he wouldn't leave Rio without him, he'd do that for M'gann even if it killed him. Slowly he began to shift through the rubble, he targeted the larger rocks, the small sections of the warehouse that still stood. Unsure of what it was that he wanted to find.

Wally sunk to his knees, his eyes firmly on the ground. How could this have happened? Why her? They left them behind to keep them safe. She was the woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, the only woman who could ever keep up with him. Now she was gone, taken from him just like Jamie. He would finish this mission no matter what it took, for her.

Dick stood silent among the carnage, a prisoner to his thoughts. _Look around Dick, this happened because of you. This is your fault. They were safe, they were criminals and con-artists but they were safe. Artemis and Wally had quit the life, he's you're best friend you knew he wanted a family. You killed them. Jamie, M'gann, Artemis and Zatanna...What about Kaldur, how do you tell him his partner's dead because of you. Zatanna was safe in Vegas before you pulled her in, she trusted you, maybe even liked you and now she's gone too..._

"Don't blame yourself Dick, don't do that to yourself" Wally warned, he got to his feet and walked over to the younger man. "I brought you all here, they wouldn't have been in there if it wasn't for me" Dick said, he kept his head down too ashamed to look his best friend in the eye.

"We came here by choice Dick, you didn't force us. We came because you needed us, we're a family." Dick looked closely at Wally, the pain in his eyes was unbearable, but there was something more than that. "You're finishing this mission, aren't you?" Dick asked, he'd seen that look so many times before, and every time it ended with Wally doing something utterly ridiculous.

Wally looked down at the tattoo on his wrist, it was a lightening bolt inside a circle. He'd gotten it with Artemis, she'd gotten a crescent moon because of her namesake, it symbolised who she was. He'd gotten the lightening bolt, Artemis had always called him Flash, it was one of her many nicknames for him. She'd always said that he only had one gear, he lived for the thrill that came with speed and she loved that about him.

"First they took Jason, then Jamie, now they've taken Artemis, M'gann and Zatanna and god knows what they plan to do to Kaldur. We can't just walk away Dick."

Connor stopped, was that crying? "Guys, dig through any large piles of rubble you can find and any parts that are still partially standing, someone's still alive" Dick and Wally turned sharply to look at Connor.

"Alive?" Wally asked, his emotions a violent mixture of stunned and hopeful. "I can hear crying, someone's still alive" Connor answered.

Frantically the three dug through large chunks of rock and what was now scrap metal.

"Move and I'll kill you!" the three man put their hands on their heads and slowly turned around. There stood Zatanna the gun shook in her hands and one of her arms was bloody. The realisation began to show on her face as the three faces came into view. She lowered the gun and limped as fast as she could before she broke into a slow run, straight to Dick. She tucked herself against him, her head in the crook of his neck. They gave her a couple of minutes to calm her breathing and pull herself together.

"Zee? What happened?" Dick asked gently. He moved backwards and placed his hand under her chin, gently he lifted her head to look at him.

"We heard Slade's warning over the comms. Artemis told me to hide in the garage, said she'd get M'gann and join me." Tears welled up in Zatanna's eye's as she relived the last moments in the cave. Connor and Wally looked around frantically for any other signs of life, if Zatanna had made it then there was a chance that Artemis and M'gann had too.

"When the gunfire stopped, I went to look for them. I managed to get to the garage's ramp when the whole place collapsed. I was lucky that the two wall's jammed together..." Zatanna buried her head in the crook of Dick's neck and allowed herself to cry, as Dick tried to calm her down they heard the sound of someone coughing not too far from them.

Connor raced over and began to move the large pieces of metal that he guessed used to be the elevator, it was propped up by a few large jagged rocks. "Guys! I need help here!"

Wally rushed over while Dick helped Zatanna stumble over the rocks. Connor lifted a large slab of metal, "someone get them out of there" Connor ordered through gritted teeth. Wally got there first, he was greeted by the sight of Artemis and M'gann, M'gann was unconscious and faced down in the now blood stained rubble while Artemis was seemed semi aware, with her head to the side.

"Artemis? Can you move?" Wally asked, his eyes locked on hers. "No, my legs are trapped" she answered weakly, Dick noticed the large slab of metal over her legs. "If I lift the metal, can you get her out?" Dick asked, Wally nodded and the two of them began to untangle her from the remainder of metal and rubble that was settled around the two.

Once she was free Zatanna stumbled over and helped to keep her on her feet. "Anytime now" Connor grumbled the weight of the metal still on his shoulders.

Dick and Wally began to untangle M'gann from the wreckage and slowly turned her over, careful not to hurt her. Being extra careful Wally lifted her up and carried her out of the towards the others. Connor released what was left of the elevator and it landed on the ground with a sickening crack.

"What now? There's no where for us to go" Zatanna said, tears in her eyes. "There's this one place" Artemis said, her voice raspy and hoarse from the dust. The group looked at her expectantly. "It'll be easier to just show you" Dick added, he grabbed the small bag that had been buried with M'gann and Artemis. He pulled out a set of keys and tossed another to Wally. "Take Artemis we'll follow behind you." Wally handed M'gann over to Connor and carried Artemis over to one of the two motorbikes, he placed her on the back of the bike before he climbed on himself.

"Connor, think you can handle the second bike?" Dick asked, "Sure thing" Connor grumbled, Dick threw him the last set of keys and discarded the bag. "Zatanna, M'gann, you'll ride with me."

Dick and Connor helped the two into the bullet riddled Nissan before Connor mounted the Ducati. Wally looked back and saluted light heartedly before he took off onto the freeway. Dick and Connor behind him.

They weren't on the freeway long when Wally took a turn onto a barely noticeable dirt track. Artemis looked on in awe as Wally rode gracefully around the winding track and down further towards the calm waves of the dam. She loved water, the ocean, rivers, dams. It always calmed her nerves, she pointed out the subtle pressure pad hidden in the dirt. Wally rolled the bike forward onto the pad and looked on as the wall in front of them lowered, mimicking the motion of a drawbridge.

He drove forward into the dam and parked up at the side, Dick and Connor pulled in behind him.

As they stepped out of the car, M'gann and Zatanna looked around, stunned. "This place is incredible" M'gann gasped. The whole cave was brightly decorated, nothing like the old warehouse that they had used to begin with. "What is this place?" Zatanna asked, "it used to be used to store the decorations and floats for carnivals, now its free for the taking so we took it and pimped it out with our own tech" Dick answered.

There were a number of different functional stations, each with either a laptop, computer or a tablet. There was another holo-console in the centre of the room and the armoury was huge in comparison to their last one. Even though the set up was almost identical to the warehouse they'd just left, it was so much more impressive. "Now this is a cave" Zatanna laughed.

Artemis' hand twitched over the gun tucked into her shorts, she was paranoid. Hell they all were, they'd been attacked numerous times since they started this mission. Wally threw his arm around Artemis' shoulders, "want the tour?" he asked, a hopeful grin on his face.

"Sure" Zatanna laughed, her voice raspy and breathless from the events of the last couple of hours.

"Seen as we already know the layout of this place, we'll stay here and come up with a plan" Artemis said, Wally lifted her onto the side of the holo-console and kissed her, Artemis smiled at his goofball antics before she turned and pulled up a digital map of Rio. Dick walked over and stood next to her protectively to give Wally some time to relax, she'd be safe with him.

"Come on folks, first stop the med bay" Wally said dramatically as he walked off towards the make shift medical bay.

"How are you feeling?" Dick asked, his eyes full of concern for one of his oldest friends. "Like I got hit by a truck" Artemis laughed, her voice still quiet and hoarse. Dick reached under the holo-console and pulled out a basic first aid kit. "Dick there's no need, I'm fine" Artemis protested. Dick placed a warm hand on her thigh, "You might be, but personally I'd feel a lot better if you let me patch you up. Besides...either I do, or I tell Wally and he spends hours fussing over you" Dick laughed.

"Fine, but I won't sit still...you truly are evil Grayson" Artemis answered stubbornly, even though she had a hint of a smile on her face.

She brought up digital copies of various police reports filed by Werner Vertigo for numerous incidents of trespassing onto his property. As Dick cleaned up her wounds and checked her for any unnoticed injuries, she used these files to start to identify the locations of the cash houses and exactly how many of them there were.

They both worked silently, Dick bandaged up her sprained wrist while Artemis circled certain locations on the map, she made what appeared to be brightly coloured digital sticky notes with bits of vital information on each of the cash houses on them. Once Dick had finished he slipped the first aid kit back under the console and stood next to Artemis, his eyes scanned the notes around the circled locations before they landed on her.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Dick asked, the smiles on their faces grew. "Looks like we have our plan" she replied. Dick's phone shattered the triumphant moment between the two.

Dick accepted the call and put the phone to his ear. "Hello Dick..." Dick froze, he'd know that voice anywhere, "Slade" Dick greeted, venom in his voice.

Artemis stiffened next to him at the name.

"Listen carefully I'm here to make a deal with you" Slade commanded. Unlike his usually smug tone, his voice was tense, angry. "How did you find us?" Dick asked, as he spoke Artemis reloaded her gun and loaded one for Dick, things could get ugly very fast in situations like these. She knew that all too well.

"Meet me outside and I'll make my offer." Dick listened closely, why would Slade want to make a deal with them? He was hunting them...wasn't he? Dick made the decision in his head to take Artemis with him, even he wasn't stupid enough to face Slade alone. Not when he knew he didn't have to. Dick scrambled around the nearest desk for a slip of paper, he scribbled on it and passed it to Artemis. _Slade wants to make a deal with us, will you come with me? _Artemis nodded and handed him the note back. He scribbled something else before he handed it back to her.

_Tell the team. _

Artemis rushed off towards the garage, it was Wally's last stop of his little tour. She burst into the garage and all eyes turned to her. "Slade's here, he's outside and wants to make a deal" she blurted out breathlessly. "He wants to what?" Zatanna asked, one step away from laughing at how ridiculous the whole situation sounded.

"What do we do?" M'gann asked timidly from beside Connor. "Dick thinks it's best that we go out there and face him head on, see what he has to say" Artemis answered. "That's ridiculous, it's obviously a trap and even if wants to meet him he can't go out there alone" Zatanna snapped. "He won't be alone will he?" Wally asked, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Artemis shook her head.

"Go, watch his back. But I swear if anything happens to you I'll kill Dick myself. We'll watch the feed from the security cameras and provide back up if necessary." Artemis smiled, she always found Wally to be rather hot when he was protective. He took Artemis' hand and together they rushed back up to Dick, the rest of the team behind them.

"You ready?" Dick asked as the team approached him, "born that way" Artemis responded confidently.

The two walked towards the cave's exit as Wally lowered the door, ready to close it as soon as Dick and Artemis stepped out of the cave. Out into the open where they would be completely exposed and at their most vulnerable. They approached Slade, their guns tucked away and hidden. "Why are you here?" Dick asked, there was no point beating around the bush. "Like I said I want to make a deal with you, don't make me repeat myself again" Slade answered, he took a step closer towards them.

"That's close enough" Artemis growled, her voice low, dangerous. Back in the cave the team watched the exchange on the monitors, audio blared through their comms. Wally laughed at Artemis' warning, _that's my girl. _Slade took another step closer this set off Artemis and Dick's survival instincts, without a second thought they drew their guns and trained them on Slade.

Slade laughed arrogantly, "There's no need for violence, also congratulations on your engagement miss Crock. I'm sure you and your fiancé will be very happy." Artemis stiffened all she could do was to try and prevent this from becoming personal. "You have two minutes to tell us about this deal before we shoot you" she sneered, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of getting under her skin.

"After our last encounter, my team and I were heading back to our base of operations. We were ambushed, they hit us fast and they hit us hard. I lost almost all of my team." Slade explained.

"Almost?" Dick asked, Slade laughed. There was now a small red dot over Artemis' heart, "you brought back up" Dick groaned. "As did you" Slade said, as he gestured towards Artemis.

"I came here because I need you're help, we both want the same thing" Slade said, he sounded more frustrated by the second. "And what's that?" Artemis asked dramatically. "Revenge against the Cartel, they killed a member of your team, members of your family. I know you're plan is to take them down."

Artemis and Dick looked at each other then looked up at the security cameras. "What are they waiting for?" M'gann asked, confused. "They're waiting for permission to bring them inside the cave" Wally answered.

"If Dick and Artemis trust him then surely we can right?" Zatanna asked, "they don't trust him, they're confident that he'll keep his word though" Wally answered. "How can they be so sure?" Connor asked, irritated. "He's military, he lives by a code and they know that. He won't go back on his deal" Wally replied. "I say let him in" Zatanna said, she trusted her gut and her gut told her that Artemis and Dick were right. "I agree" M'gann added. All eyes were on Connor, "fine, whatever" Connor grunted.

"Go with your gut Dick" Wally finally replied through the comm. Dick smiled, thankful that his newly assembled team trusted him. The only one's who knew him well enough to put their lives in his hands were Wally and Artemis, yet here they were, a team. A team that trusted each other one hundred percent.

"If you're partner takes their target off of my friends chest, you're both welcome to follow us" Dick said. Slade smirked, this guy really was as ballsy as he'd be told he was. Slade pulled a small radio out of his belt, "Rose, come and join us." A young woman with white hair and icy blue eyes stepped out from behind Slade's truck, her sniper rifle in hand.

"Follow us" Dick said, his voice cold and void of emotion. Dick and Artemis headed back inside the cave.

Wally sighed, this would go one of two ways. Number 1 The team and Slade really are on the same side for now and would somehow manage to work together. Number two, Slade and this...Rose woman would attempt to kill them all and hopefully fail.

Only time would tell...

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it, please review :) **


	6. Apology

Oh my god I am so sorry! I never meant to posted chapter 6 instead of chapter 5 for two reasons...

1. That makes no sense and is rather stupid...

2.I hadn't edited the chapter to make sure that it was ready to post...the 'spoilers' at the bottom were my plan for the next chapter

I am so sorry for that I just want to thank you for letting me know and to let all of you know that I have since moved away from that precise plan so there will still be surprises :P


	7. Who's Hiding

**Again, I am so so sorry that I've already posted this chapter...I shall never post in a hurry again I promise :) Thanks for sticking with me and for those of you who may not have read this chapter before, I hope you like it.**

* * *

Dick and Artemis entered the cave, Slade and Rose behind them. Zatanna wasn't sure how they could just turn their backs on the man that had tried to kill them, she was nervous , they all were but they weren't about to show it.

The four of them stopped at the holo-console, Artemis and Dick took their guns and placed them on the side of the console. "Place your weapons on the console" Artemis said, her voiced remained low and dangerous. An unspoken warning.

"I've had enough of this crap" Rose growled, she stepped towards Artemis who dropped into a fighting stance. Slade's reached out and pulled Rose back. "What the hell are you doing?" Rose snarled, "I'm doing you a favour, but if you want to get the living daylights beaten out of you then go ahead."

Artemis straightened up and relaxed slightly, "was that a compliment?" Artemis asked sceptically "I've studied you, all of you. I know that you can handle yourself perfectly well in a fight miss Crock, I must say that I'm impressed."

Dick and Wally noticed Rose tense beside Slade as he complimented Artemis' ability.

Wally moved to stand beside Artemis, over the years he'd come to realise that his presence was usually enough to calm her down.

He grabbed her hand behind the desk and gave it a gentle squeeze. "What is it that you really want?" Dick asked, in this line of work the best way to stay alive was to trust no one, he had to be sure that for this one instant Slade was on their side.

"I've already told you, they killed my team. I want revenge." Artemis looked around, the team was tense, this meeting had to end, soon.

"When you get you're revenge, what happens to us?" Artemis asked, it was the question that no one wanted to ask but everyone wanted the answer to.

"I won't stop chasing after you?" Slade answered, "but I will give you a twenty-four hour head start. Take it or leave it."

"How do we know you'll keep your word?" Zatanna asked sharply, she didn't like the idea of having to work along side a man that had tried to kill her and her team.

"You'll just have to trust me" Slade taunted.

"Does any one in this thrilling group have a plan?" Rose asked, the team glared at her, who did this girl think she was. First she tried to kill them, then she threatened a team member and now she was in _their_ house being a complete bitch. Artemis and Zatanna tensed, both ready for a fight.

"Actually..." Dick started before any fights could break out. "We do...Artemis care to explain your plan to the newbies?" Dick asked, the look on Rose's face told him that he had gotten under her skin.

Artemis pulled up a map of Rio, there were four buildings circled in red. "I did a little digging, and I found that there are five cash houses here in Rio. After some more digging I managed to find that the cartel is holding Kaldur in one of these locations."

"That doesn't sound like much of a plan" Rose sneered. Artemis took a deep breath and continued, she squeezed Wally's hand to let him know that she wasn't about to attack Rose, before she let it go and tapped on one of the four locations on the map.

The holo-console brought up a Satellite image of the first circled location. "Location A, a small clothing boutique to the naïve public eye but when you venture through the back of the store, you'll find one of Vertigo's cash houses." Artemis explained, she waved her hand through the hologram and the image rotated to show the back of the building before she continued.

"Slade, Rose. You'll stake out this location, when they move the money tail them and find out where they're moving it to." Artemis explained. "When they move the money?" Slade asked, he seemed genuinely curious as to where this was heading.

"Trust me it'll make sense when she's finished" Dick said, Slade motioned for Artemis to continue. Artemis brought up a second location on the holo-console.

"This is E-life internet cafe. Again it's one of Vertigo's cash houses." Artemis explained, the team hung on her every word. "Wally and Zatanna will keep watch and tail Vertigo's men when they move the money to a secondary location."

"Location number three is a fabric house which I'll stake out, and the final location is Maria's dry cleaners. This is where they're holding Kaldur."

"How are we going to get him out?" M'gann asked, all traces of the sweet innocent girl that they'd come to know was gone, she was all business.

"Dick, Connor. The two of you will enter the dry cleaners and send a message." Dick looked at her his eyes full of mischief, "what kind of message are we talking about here 'mis?"

Artemis looked back at him her eyes mirrored his, "the fun kind, you're going to round up as much money as you can find...and you're going to burn it."

"What?!" Rose screeched, "I always heard that you and your partners were crazy Grayson...but this is another level all together."

The team looked at Artemis with approval, "the priority is to retrieve Kaldur, make sure he's with you and safe before you proceed."

"What do you want me to do?" M'gann asked, she understood why she wasn't part of her partners rescue team, she was too involved, too emotional. She understood that that could make the situation worse.

"You'll be here..." Artemis pulled up an image of a tall building. "You'll set up on the roof and keep an eye on the transports, you'll be our eyes and ears."

M'gann nodded. "What do we do about transport? We have two bikes and one car" Wally asked. Slade stepped forward, "we have a military impound lot roughly half hour away from here, I could get you a few vehicles from there" he said.

"Sounds asterous, Wally and I will go with you to bring the cars back" Dick said, he tucked his gun back into the back of his jeans.

"Asterous?" Slade asked, looking to Artemis for an explanation, she shrugged at him before she picked up her own gun.

"we have roughly and hour and a half to prepare, what ever you need to do I suggest you do it now" she said, her eyes darted between the members of the team.

Wally bent down and kissed her. "Stay safe" Artemis whispered as she handed him her gun. Wally took it and kissed her forehead before walking out with Dick, Slade and Rose.

"What do we need?" Connor asked, surveillance wasn't really his area of expertise. "Zee, you want to take this?" Artemis asked, as were Artemis and Dick, Zatanna was an expert in stealth and surveillance having staked out many hotels to find their inner workings before her shows.

"We'll need a way to stay in contact, we all have our comms but see as none of us trust Slade and Rose with a full time comm link to us we'll go with radios this time. That way we can stay in touch privately via the comms and we can contact them over the radio. Even though it's only surveillance it's best to be armed just in case, I recommend something small and easy to conceal" Zatanna explained.

"We'll arm the team with standard issue military hand guns, Connor, you and Dick will need something with a little more fire power, I'll have your guns chosen and ready by the time we all leave" Artemis said.

"While we sort out the weaponry can the two of you sort out the radios, we need them all tuned to the same frequency. Also M'gann seen as you'll be our main set of eyes you'll need a strong set of binoculars."

"Got it" M'gann said, a big warm smile on her face. Connor took her hand and the two left to prepare.

"Ooh, what's that about?" Zatanna asked as she watched M'gann and Connor walk away, M'gann giggling at something that Connor had said.

"I guess crazy things happen when you could die at any moment" Artemis answered light heartedly.

"You mean like Wally proposing to you?" Zatanna giggled. Artemis laughed, "yeah, like that...also like the googly eyes you've been making at Dick.

Zatanna glared at her. "Is he single?" she laughed.

"You really wanna know?" Artemis asked, she raised her eyebrows at the magician which earned her a punch to the arm. Artemis laughed, "he's single" she answered breathlessly.

Zatanna's eyebrows raised, "oh really..."

"How heavy are we talking here with firepower?" Zatanna asked as they entered the large armoury. "Nothing big, they need to be easy to conceal, apart from Dick and Connor's weapons" Artemis answered. "I'm thinking standard issue military with a couple of pump action shot guns thrown in for Dick and Connor" she added.

* * *

M'gann and Connor sat in the secondary surveillance room various radios scattered on the desk in front of them. "Have you done this before?" Connor asked, as he stared blankly at the radio he was supposed to be tuning.

"Have I ever tuned a radio set? Or have I ever gone up against a major criminal organisation?" M'gann asked sweetly. Connor had noticed that there were two sides to her, she was sweet, innocent. But she was also smart, dangerous...maybe even deadly.

"Erm...both?" Connor replied uncertain of what else he could possibly say. "I've done this hundreds of times on missions with Kaldur. As for going up against a seriously powerful organisation, nope, never done that" M'gann's smile was warm and friendly. She calmed Connor's nerves and kept him stable, he needed someone like her around.

"I can show you how to do it if you'd like" M'gann offered, she put down her radio and placed one of her hands over Connors that was holding his radio. "All you have to do is match up the number on the radio to the number on the transmitter, just keep turning this knob until they match."

Connor looked down at her, slowly he'd come to realise that this girl was everything that he needed. He also realised that she was so much more than he deserved, he'd almost killed a man, he was violent and a complete loose cannon. What if he hurt her?

It may have been selfish, but Connor refused to let himself think like that.

* * *

"I won't be able to get you in for long before people realise that you're not supposed to be there. Choose your cars fast, the keys will be in the ignitions ready to move them out" Slade explained.

Dick and Wally were only half listening, this wasn't the first time that they'd had to do something like this. As the barbed wire gates of the impound lot loomed ahead of them, Dick scanned the lot for exits. He sighed, there was one way in and one way out, if they got trapped inside there was no way they could escape unaided.

The walls were tall and intimidation with their sharp edges and barbed wire tops. The sky seemed to turn from the dazzling blue that usually hung above Rio to a depressing shade of grey.

Slade rolled his window down as he approached the security booth. He passed his ID to the young woman on the booth, "welcome back Mr Wilson" she smiled sweetly. "I won't be here long, my team need to borrow a few vehicles." "Pick the one's you need, log them and you're all clear to drive them out" the guard said.

Slade smiled at her before he rolled up his window and drove into the lot. "Now's your chance guys, get the cars and get out, leave everything else to me."

Dick and Wally jumped out of the vehicle and quickly scouted the area, careful to stick together just in case anything went wrong.

"Dude, I think we just struck gold." Dick turned around to see what his friend was talking about. Stood before him were too shiny black Dodge Chargers. Dick let out a impressed whistle. "Speed, precision, good handling. It'd be rude not to take them" Dick laughed, he skimmed his hand down the side of one opened the door.

Wally bent down and poked his head into the car, "the keys are inside, just like he said."

Dick climbed into the second car, and saw that the keys were already in the ignition. He lifted a finger to his ear and pressed in his communicator, "Slade seems to have things covered here, let's get back to the cave and get Kaldur back."

Wally revved his engine in response, he rolled down his window and leant out of the car. Dick mimicked Wally and leant over towards the open window. "Hey Dick?"

"Yeah?"

"How long do you think it is until Rose and Artemis go at it?" Dick chuckled at his friends question, he knew that in his head he was thinking some rather explicit happenings between his fiancé and the ice cold mercenary.

Dick thought for a moment before he spoke again, a rather fun thought popped into his head.

"You know what is cool?" Wally raised his eyebrows intrigued at where this conversation was going. "Artemis and Zatanna seem to be _really _good friends now."

"Never gonna happen man, they'd kill us just for thinking that" Wally laughed. Little did they know that Dick had accidentally left his comm line wide open.

Dick revved his engine twice to let Slade know that they'd found what they were looking for. Slade busied the security guard by filling out forms for different cars, if the higher ups knew exactly what cars they had taken it would be ridiculously easy to track them and shut the whole operation down.

Dick and Wally sped past the security booth as Slade finished the false paperwork, Rose pulled up his Jeep around and he jumped in quickly.

Dick pressed in his comm, "Arty can you hear me?" "Loud and clear, and if you ever call me that again I will pile drive you" Artemis responded. "I don't doubt that for a second, look we're on our way back now, make sure everyone's ready, we leave as soon as we get back."

* * *

The Cave, Rio de Janeiro

As the sun rose and painted the valley a beautiful orange Artemis rushed about the cave gathering the various members of the team and their gear. Ten minutes later after a lot of running and a bizarre unplanned game of hide and seek, she stood breathlessly in the main hanger having managed to round everyone up.

M'gann had changed into three quarter cream jeans with a pink tank top, Zatanna wore black skinny jeans tucked into red docs that matched her crimson red halter top. Artemis thought practically and changed into light blue skinny jeans, tan leather boots with matching jacket and a dark green tank top.

"Is everybody ready?" Artemis asked loudly, earning her the rooms attention. "We're ready to leave as soon as Dick and Wally get back with vehicles" M'gann informed her. She handed Artemis a small case.

Artemis lifted the case onto the holo-console and opened it up, "were there any problems?" she asked er eyes darted between M'gann and Connor. "None, we've tested them and they all work perfectly, no interference." M'gann explained.

Artemis handed out the radios and weapons, and Zatanna monitored the main entrance camera to look for the guys arrival.

"You know..." Zatanna said, innocently. She threw an arm around Artemis's shoulders, "if Dick and Wally want a show, why don't we give them one?"

"Zatanna!" M'gann squeaked from beside Connor, she smiled brightly at the other two women. This was the first time in her life that she'd had female friends, it had always just been her and Kaldur.

"That's not a bad idea" Artemis said, her eyes full of playful mischief. "But first let's bring the bikes through, that way we can leave when they get here" Artemis said. Connor stood up and joined her as she grabbed the keys off of the desk and made her way to the garage.

The two walked in a comfortable silence, in some ways Connor and Artemis were a lot alike. Both had a hard time controlling their emotions and tended to let them get the better of them. Both also knew when silence was the best option, they both recognised that sometimes people needed some time with their own thoughts. They knew that this was one of those times.

What was about to happen in the next few hours would determine how the rest of the mission went.

As she climbed onto her bike, she thought back to what Cameron had said to her at the race.

"_Long time no see Artemis, I'll be honest though this comes as no surprise...I know you Artemis, you live for the chase, the adrenaline that comes with the job. I always knew that you'd come back." _

The harder she thought about it, the more she realised that he had been right. She was born into this game, she'd gotten away from the darker side of the game once thanks to Dick. That didn't mean that she was out though.

She was still a wanted criminal, the only difference was that her and Dick did what they did for the right reasons. She'd managed to get a brief break for a year or two, she'd settled down with Wally and opened a garage. Things were good, but this, this is where they both belonged.

This is where all of them belonged.

Artemis drove her bike up into the main hanger and parked it beside the other.

Zatanna grabbed Artemis' leather jacket and helmet, plus a spare set for M'gann and took them over to the two women.

"M'gann you're gonna be riding Wally's bike" Artemis said as Zatanna passed her the jacket and helmet. Connor pulled a small duffle bag off of the table and threw one of the radios inside, he then took it over to M'gann.

"There's binoculars, you're small telescope and a gun in there. Be careful." "Thanks Connor" M'gann said, she slipped the jacket on, threw the duffle over her shoulder and climbed onto the bike.

Connor leant down and pulled her into a hug.

Zatanna had been monitoring the security feeds while Artemis was gone, opened the hanger door to let Dick and Wally enter.

After deciding to play along with Dick and Wally's little fantasy that they over heard on the radio earlier, Zatanna walked over to Artemis.

"Where are Slade and Rose?" M'gann asked, "they stayed out front seen as we'll all be leaving in a minute anyway" Wally answered.

"I'll take them a radio out" Connor offered, snatching up a radio for himself and one for their temporary team mates.

Zatanna leant down next to Artemis' bike and picked up her leather jacket. She turned her back on Dick and Wally. "Play along" she mouthed. Slowly she leant down close to Artemis' neck and began to slowly put her jacket on her.

This caught Dick and Wally's attention.

After slipping the jacket over Artemis' arms Artemis placed them behind her and leaned back on the seat. Zatanna moved in front of her, careful not to block the Dick and Wally's view and began to slowly zip her jacket up.

She took extra care to take her time and made sure that she was very hands on. Artemis sat up once Zatanna had finished with her jacket, Zatanna took the helmet off of the front of the bike and handed it to her, she leant over so that their faces were inches apart.

The two women erupted with laughter.

Zatanna took in Dick and Wally's faces. Both looked on in complete shock, she noticed Wally had his phone pointed at them and giggled.

"Were you taking pictures of us West?" Zatanna laughed. Artemis watched as the tips of her fiancé's ears reddened and a cute blush provided a cute backdrop to his freckles.

"I may have gotten one or two" Wally mumbled to Dick.

Connor walked back into the hanger to find a red faced Wally stood in the midst of everyone else's laughter.

"Does everyone know their assigned locations?" Artemis asked, being the first to compose herself.

Every one agreed as the room calmed down, Connor handed out the rest of the radios and passed Dick his own shotgun.

"Everyone comes home tonight...got it?" Artemis said, she pulled on her helmet and put the visor down. "Got it." Artemis and M'gann sped out of the garage, Slade and Rose followed their lead and left to their given location.

Dick, Connor, Wally and Zatanna climbed into their respective cars and left the cave. It was time to get their team mate back, plus a little revenge.

* * *

Wally and Zatanna sat low in the Charger, Wally had pulled over across the street from the internet cafe just out of sight of its main entrance.

"How long until this goes wrong?" Zatanna laughed quietly from beside him. Wally looked over at her and smiled at her enthusiasm. He had forgotten that this wasn't usually her kind of job.

"If I'd have planned this...not long" he laughed, "seen as this is Artemis' plan and has been approved by Dick I have a feeling this should be a pretty easy job."

Zatanna smiled, "you know...I could get used to this whole team work thing...If it's with this team I mean."

She leant forward and pulled a small hard case out of the glove compartment. Wally watched intrigued with her actions as she opened the case and began assembling her camera.

"Say cheese West" before Wally could turn away Zatanna snapped a photo of his surprised face. She turned the camera and tapped the screen. "Now that is priceless" she laughed.

She trained the camera on the their target and waited for something eventful to happen.

They had been waiting for what felt like hours when Wally unbuckled himself and got out of the car. Zatanna watched him curiously, unsure of what the hell he was doing. He returned a few moments later with two hotdogs complete with ketchup, mustard and two cans of red bull.

"You risked blowing this whole thing for hotdogs and red bull?" Zatanna asked dryly. Wally handed her a hot dog, "of course...I'm stealthy" he laughed before he stuffed his hot dog into his mouth.

* * *

Slade and Rose sat in their jeep, their attention firmly on the clothing boutique that they had been sent to stake out. Boutique Santina.

"This 'mission' is a complete joke." Slade turned to look at her, his daughter had a serious temper. Something that in his opinion she had gotten from her mother, but it never compromised the mission...why was this time different?

"We're doing what needs to be done Rose" he said, calmly, more than a little fed up with her constant attitude.

"Who does she think she is...she can't just tell us what to do! We're higher up the food chain!" Rose snapped, Slade had sensed from the beginning that Rose had a problem with Artemis. She'd made it perfectly clear to the whole team that she hated the blonde.

"What ever your problem with her is, put it to the back of your mind we have a job to do."

"I want a shot at her" Rose growled, her knuckles white around her gun. "You'll get one...when this is over" Slade responded.

* * *

Artemis sat calmly on her bike, her helmet in hand, she'd parked at the opposite end of the park to the fabric house.

To most people, stake outs were boring. It was usually just a stupidly long period of time where nothing happens, for Artemis it was peaceful. A time where she could be alone with her thoughts.

She loved the feeling of the sun as it beat down against her back, the cool breeze as it stroked her face and played with her hair.

She watched people come and go through the fabric house, it was easy for her to see who was legit and who was dirty. She'd been doing it for years, it was second nature now. She leant back and watched the passers by as they went about their business.

She watched wide eyed as a young boy played fetch with his dog, his parents smiling at him from their bench. She wondered if she'd ever end up like that, would she ever have children? She knew that her and Wally wanted a dog, but children?

She always thought that she'd be awful with children, but Wally, he loved kids. He was a natural born father...but her...she had issues.

Absentmindedly her hand moved to her neck and she began to play with her rosary. _Jamie... He'd never get the chance to be a father. _She had to remember why she was doing this, this wasn't just another mission. This was personal.

The radio clipped to Artemis' jeans crackled to life.

"I've got eyes on everything from up here" M'gann said, she stood at the top of one of the largest buildings in the area. Her telescope beside her and a set of large binoculars in hand. One by one she spotted each of her team mates in their set positions, each one blended in perfectly.

Artemis unclipped her radio, "it's time team, every one stay safe and keep your distance. Dick, Connor get out of there in one piece."

"It's show time ladies and gentlemen" Zatanna laughed.

* * *

M'gann looked on anxiously as Dick and Connor exited the safety of their car and disappeared inside the dry cleaners. "I've lost sight of Dick and Connor, they're on their own now" she said, a small break in her voice.

"We're not too far away, if anything goes wrong we'll be right there" Wally said, he just really hoped that nothing went wrong. They'd already lost two of their friends to these people.

Dick and Connor entered the dry cleaners, Masks pulled over their faces. Connor entered first (being the more intimidating of the two.) The woman behind the counter screamed at them as Connor kicked the door to the back room in.

Dick rushed into the back room after Connor and shot one shot at the ceiling, now they had the room's full attention. Dick stood at the front of the room, his gun pointed at anyone who came close to him while Connor searched the room for Kaldur.

He kicked in every door that he could see until he finally found Kaldur in a supply closet near the back of the room, he didn't need to kick any of the doors in but they were there to send a message right?

"We'll make this simple, put down your weapons and get on the floor!" Dick yelled, when he noticed that none of the four hired thugs in the room had moved he shot at the roof again.

One by one they threw their guns on the floor and laid on the ground. Connor helped a beaten and disorientated Kaldur out of the closet, together the two of them stumbled towards Dick.

With Kaldur now stable Connor handed him his gun together Connor and Dick began to pile up all the money that they could find at the front where everyone could see it.

"You think you can just waltz in here, steal the cartel's money and live?!" one of the men shouted. Kaldur pointed his gun at him, a new fire in his eyes. He cowered and laid back down on the floor.

"Who said anything about stealing it?" Dick asked, his voice rich with satisfaction. "Then why do you hide behind your masks?!" Dick pulled off his mask and threw it on the pile of money, "who's hiding?" Connor smirked, he took off his own mask and tossed it onto the pile.


	8. Mission Infreakingsanity

**Hello :D **

**So, so far...I've not done too bad a job when it comes to updating on time (even if it was the wrong chapter... :(...) but the next chapter will probably take longer than a week to finish and edit. I've noticed that people don't seem to be as into this as they were my other two fics and with this being my final year at University, the workload is heavy.**

**This will be my last fic, and the next chapter will be the last. I want to thank everyone that has ever read, reviewed or commented, you're all amazing and your comments have been great. I could probably rush it and have chapter 8 up next Monday but I owe it to anyone who's still reading this to make it as great as I can. If I'm going out, I want to do it with a bang :)**

**Enjoy ;) **

* * *

"_who's hiding?" Connor smirked, he took off his own mask and tossed it onto the pile..._

"Is that all of it?" Dick asked, he took something small and black out of his pocket. Connor nodded and poured the contents of a large black bottle onto the money. Dick looked up at the up the scene before him. The Cartel's hired help were still laid on the floor and the women who were probably being forced to work in the cash house either cried or hid under tables.

"Make sure to tell your employers _exactly_ who did this" Dick exclaimed loudly, he threw the small black object onto the pile of cash and with a roar it burst into flames.

Screams erupted from behind them as Dick and Connor did their best to run to the exit with Kaldur.

They clumsily burst through the entrance of the dry cleaners and practically threw Kaldur into the car and sped off, the sight of angry henchmen screaming at them in their rear view mirror.

Dick breathed a sigh of relief, for once everything had gone exactly as planned. "We have Kaldur, we're on our way to M'gann's location now" Connor said through the radio as Dick weaved through the crowded streets, careful to keep an eye out behind them.

M'gann finally allowed herself to relax, Kaldur was safe. This was the moment that she'd been waiting for and for a minute everything seemed normal, then she remembered that her life was anything but normal and right now she had a job to do. She laughed to herself and held up her binoculars, she scouted the different locations making sure to keep an eye on her team mates.

After a few minutes she got what she wanted, "heads up guys, they're starting to move the money."

"I've got eyes on three, pursuing now" Artemis' voice was raspy and hoarse. "We have eyes on two" Zatanna said, Wally started the engine and slowly followed his mark. "Keep your distance and stay safe beautiful" Artemis laughed, "Don't worry I've got this, Zee? Look after my idiot for me" she pulled on her helmet and started her bike, Zatanna's laughter crackled through her radio.

"This is Slade, we have eyes on one." "Stay safe everyone" Rose sneered her voice dripping with sarcasm. Zatanna knew she shouldn't but she couldn't help herself. "you too...we'd all totally miss you if you never came back." Rose was about to fight back when Slade stopped her, "don't...right now we need them on our side" Rose grimaced and went back to staring out of the window.

M'gann watched from above as the scene unfolded below her, It had now become obvious as to where the Cartel was moving it's money. _Of course it wouldn't be somewhere nice and easy to get to..._M'gann sighed. "Pull back guys, I have eyes on the money and...well, you're not going to like this...everyone regroup at my coordinates."

Ten minutes later and the group had assembled at M'gann's location and were stood staring wide eyes at their new target.

"The police station?!" Zatanna asked, unable to believe what she was seeing. "Look I love you all, I really do. But this mission was hard enough to begin with, you must be insane to even consider still going through with this!"

"Or suicidal...please for the love of all things deadly be suicidal" Rose mumbled. Slade glared at her and she quickly shut up.

Artemis surveyed the police station while Zatanna caught her breath. Dick walked over and leant against the shorter magician, "feeling better now?" his piercing blue eyes locked on hers. "A little" she gasped.

M'gann and Connor fussed about Kaldur, smothering him with the contents of M'gann's first aid kit. While they cleaned him up Artemis pointed at something at the police station, "Wally look..." she handed him the binoculars and he followed her line of sight.

"What are you thinking 'mis?" Dick asked, he and Zatanna stepped up to stand beside Artemis and Wally. "Zatanna's right, this is completely insane..." Dick and Wally looked down at her with stunned faces, neither of them saw that coming.

"However it's not impossible" Their large dopey grins fixed themselves back on Dick and Wally's faces, Zatanna just stared at her like she had lost her mind.

"You can't seriously be considering this? We'd need invisible freaking cars to pull this off..." Wally laughed, Zatanna elbowed him and stood glaring at him.

"Relax Zee..." He held his hands up in mock surrender before he handed her the binoculars, "I know exactly where we can get them."

Dick grinned like the cheshire cat, Wally and Artemis' plan clicked in his head. He knew exactly what they were thinking and he liked it.

"Let's head back to base, I have a plan and it's going down tomorrow."

He turned to Zatanna, "Look I know it's crazy but if there's a way to finish this mission, we'll find it. No one else is going to get hurt." Zatanna looked up at him as if she expected him to continue. "So...are you in?" she took a moment to think about it, a small smile worked its way onto her face. "I still think that you're crazy but sure, count me in" she stood on her toes, put on hand gently on the side of his face and kissed him on the cheek.

Dick's face turned a similar colour to Wally's hair as a cute grin worked its way onto his face. Artemis walked over to Zatanna and bumped fists with the younger girl, "glad to have you on board" she laughed lightly.

"How could I say no to that face" Zatanna said, she turned to look in Dick's direction, he was caught in a headlock while Wally ruffled his hair. Artemis looked at her carefully, "you actually like him don't you?" She'd had her suspicions, but honestly the magician had just seemed like a naturally flirty person at first.

"Yeah, I think I do" Zatanna answered, her face slowly began to turn a light pink. "If you want my opinion, I'm pretty sure he likes you too" Zatanna's head snapped back to look at Artemis. "What makes you say that?" "Come on Zee, I've known him since I was 15. I know him pretty well" Artemis replied.

"You know we're going to be moving to Gotham when all of this is over, Palo Alto has too many memories now and Dick needs us. You're more than welcome to come with us" Artemis offered. Zatanna's eyes widened, "you're serious?" Artemis nodded, "in that case...I'd love to" Zatanna said, she threw an arm around Artemis and they walked over to join the group.

"Do you want a hand?" M'gann who was currently busy packing her gear away looked up to see Connor crouch down next to her. She looked over at him and smiled, "that would be great" she sighed. He helped her pack down her telescope and and throw all of her gear into her bag.

"Listen up everyone!" Dick exclaimed, the group stopped what ever they were doing and gave him their full attention. "For now we'll return to the cave, even you two" he said motioning to Slade and Rose. "Later tonight, those cars are ours!"

The team wooped and hollered dramatically as Dick laughed at their antics, even Slade cracked a smile. Rose looked up at him and prayed that he wasn't going soft.

The Cave, Rio de Janeiro

Artemis, Zatanna and M'gann were sat in the kitchen area fresh from their much needed showers, their damp hair made small puddles behind their chairs. Artemis sat in a pair of black shorts and Wally's old red football jersey with her sneakers on, Zatanna had opted to stay fabulous in black shorts and a red tank top and M'gann had her jogging bottoms and a white tank top on.

"What are the guys doing?" M'gann asked, a mug of hot chocolate between her hands. "They've gone to take showers before they head out again, seen as it's going to be a really long night." Zatanna answered.

"What's the plan again?" Zatanna groaned. "You and M'gann are going to pick up our special vehicle and our props, Connor will drop you off. Then, Slade's going to give me, Rose and Dick a ride to the police station where we'll break in and get the police cars. Wally's going to stay here with Kaldur." Artemis explained.

"Simple then?" Zatanna laughed breathlessly.

The three of them were exhausted, usually the thrill and adrenaline that came with the mission was enough to keep them on their toes, this time though there was way too much waiting around for their liking. They had to be extra careful.

"I'm going to stand out front for a while, clear my head before we head out" Artemis said, she placed her mug in the sink and left. "Think she's ok?" M'gann asked, worried about the blonde. "Honestly, no...but are any of us? Dick lost Jason, Artemis and Wally lost Jamie, you nearly lost Kaldur...Any one of us could be next" Zatanna answered, her head down.

Her sky blue eyes seemed to search her hot chocolate for answers to an unasked question. She looked up and noticed the tears in M'gann's eyes. "She's tough though, she'll be ok, we all will."

M'gann looked up and offered a sad smile. They both knew that there was no guarantee that they would make it home.

"You know what always cheers me up?" Zatanna asked, A shy smile broke out of M'gann's face. "Shopping?" M'gann laughed, "you know me so well already" Zatanna chuckled, "I don't think that's an option right now though." She leaned across the table a mischievous look on her face "how do you feel about magic?"

The raven haired magician quickly moved over to one of the kitchen draws and pulled out a pack of cards. "I'm ready to be impressed" M'gann called from her seat at the table.

Outside Artemis stood near the edge of the cliff, her eyes scanned the scene before her as the sun set. The valley was painted a beautiful deep orange, with pink tones in the sky. As she looked down she found that she couldn't take her eyes off of the waves.

For a moment, she allowed herself to remember how things were, to feel at peace. She remembered the morning of her last birthday, waking up to find Wally lying next to her, flour smeared across his cheek. That spark in his eyes, he'd woken up early to bake her a cake.

She remembered how nervous she was to meet his family, his aunt Iris, uncle Barry and Bart, his younger cousin. They were all so friendly, welcoming. She wanted to go back there, go back to when it was just them against the world. There was no going back now, but even now she was happy.

She felt crazy for even acknowledging that thought, people had died and here she was...happy. She had found a family of her own here, a bunch of criminals, each with a big heart.

Artemis snapped out of her thoughts when she heard something move behind her.

"I'll be in in a second Zee." "Oh please don't move on my account...personally I think the edge of a cliff is a good place for you."

Artemis turned to face Slade's daughter. "What do you want Rose?"

"I really don't see what all of the fuss is about" Rose sneered, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. "You're skills are average, your friends are questionable..I mean come on the cheap charlatan from Vegas? The ex boxer turned thug, the track star turned con man...Want me to go on? You're nothing special."

Artemis recognised the bitterness in her eyes, she'd felt it before. This wasn't about her at all. "What is this really about Rose? Why do you want me gone so bad?" Artemis asked, she took a brave step forward, closing the distance between them.

"You're a criminal, the lowest of the low...yet my dad loves you and your little team, he's obsessed, thinks that you're the daughter he should have had. What the hell makes you so special, I am better than you in every way!"

Artemis took a deep breath, "you're right..." Rose's face morphed into one of both shock and anger. Artemis calmly turned and walked back into the hanger. Rose took a moment to figure out what the hell had happen before she turned and ran inside after Artemis, shouting and screaming at her.

Immediately Zatanna and M'gann shot from their seats and stood in front of the table, ready to back up their friend. Artemis continued to calmly walk towards her friends and try not to let Rose anger her, the noise drew the rest of the team and Slade back into the main hanger. Each of them alert.

Slade moved to break up the confrontation but Dick's hand on his shoulder stopped him, Slade respectively stepped back, what ever happened next Rose was on her own. Rose had caught up to Artemis and grabbed the blonde's arm roughly, Artemis stopped and turned to face the furious woman.

Without another word Rose punched Artemis across her face, splitting her cheek. Artemis put a hand to her cheek and looked at the blood that had transferred onto her fingers.

Artemis snapped.

She kicked out, knocking Rose backwards, she then dropped low and swept her feet from underneath her. Rose hit the floor hard, the wind sucked out of her body with a chocked cry. Artemis loomed over her and clamped a foot against her neck, "I've been pretty damn forgiving so far, but I swear to god if you touch me again...I'll end you."

She lifted her foot from Rose's neck and walked towards Zatanna who had bundled some ice into a thin tea towel for her cheek. "What the hell was that about?" Zatanna asked, glaring daggers at Rose, Artemis shrugged her shoulders and accepted the make shift ice pack from Zatanna and placed it over her cut cheek, wincing at the contact.

Slade walked over and extended a hand out to Rose, begrudgingly she took it and allowed him to help her to her feet.

"What the hell were you thinking?! Another stunt like that and you're completely on your own!" Slade growled, Rose flinched, she pulled her hand away from his and stormed off.

Wally stood in front of his girlfriend, slowly he took her hand and moved the towel away from her face. He examined the cut on artemis' cheek, his fingers gently ghosted the wound. Artemis flinched at the contact, neither said anything, neither needed to. Artemis leant in against his chest and let him play with her hair for a few minutes, it always calmed them both down and they had to keep their heads, they had work to do.

"You ok?" Dick asked joining the group. "Don't worry, I'm still good to go" Artemis answered, she slowly pulled away from Wally, Dick gave her a quick hug and handed her a gun. "Just in case" he said, more for Wally's benefit than hers.

Artemis looked over at Slade, "we're ready." Slade nodded his head and walked towards the hanger door. Zatanna grabbed Dick's arm, "Be careful yeah, playboy." Dick laughed and leant in next to her ear. "How about when this mission's over, I show you how I got that reputation?"

He pulled away a confident smirk on his face, the group watched the exchange, curious to know what had been said. "I might just hold you to that" Zatanna said, "and Artemis? Don't kick her ass too badly."

Artemis smiled, "Rose! Grab your shit! We have a job to do!" she yelled, her voice echoed through the cave. She tucked her gun into her shorts and her and Dick followed Slade outside.

As Rose emerged from the shadows and made her way to the hanger door, Zatanna and M'gann glared at her their arms crossed tight across their chests. Rose's confident front vanished and she raced out of the hanger.

M'gann and Zatanna high five and giggled between them while the boys looked on, clearly the girls on this team could handle themselves.

Zatanna looked over at M'gann and Connor, "you two are adorable by the way" the two of them looked up at her, M'gann blushed and Connor raised an eyebrow. "We should really get going" M'gann said, Connor rolled his eyes at the young magician who stood giggling to herself.

He grabbed his keys off of the table, "time to move out." M'gann turned to Kaldur who had sat down at the table, "will you be ok?" Kaldur nodded, "I will be fine, and I won't be alone."

Wally sat down next to him and handed him a bottle of water. M'gann smiled and rushed after Connor and Zatanna.

"Just you and me Kal" Wally said cheerfully, after everything that Kaldur had just gone through, Wally decided to keep the mood upbeat. "Thank you for staying with me my friend, I know that you are worried about Artemis and Dick."

Looking at him now Wally could see that Kaldur had escaped lightly, a few cuts and bruises here and there, he limped a little and favoured his left leg. It looked like the Cartel has underestimated how important Kaldur is.

"How is Artemis handling losing Jamie?" Kaldur asked, Wally handed him an ice pack for his swollen eye. "She's doing ok, it was hard on all of us. Then we thought that we'd lost you too. It's brought the group closer though" Wally explained.

Kaldur smiled, "is M'gann ok?" Wally nodded, "her, Zatanna and Artemis have all leant on each other. They've become quite close."

"Is there anyway that I can help now?" Kaldur asked, "You've gotten the closest to the Cartel out of all of us, is there anything you can tell us that we didn't already know?"

Kaldur thought for a moment, "I heard some talk about Vertigo's safe, he keeps it at the police station. It's got a erm...a three tier identification system" Kaldur explained.

"Any idea how we crack it?" Wally asked, optimistic at their latest breakthrough. "It requires Vertigo's palm print, password and retinal scan."

"Damn...how on earth do we get close enough to get what we need?" Wally groaned.

"This might be the craziest plan that I've ever been a part of" M'gann laughed, she flicked through her phone and scanned the images that Dick had sent to her. "Weirdly these aren't the weirdest props I've used" Zatanna said, M'gann and Connor both turned to her wide eyed and curious.

"What? I'm a magician..." Zatanna said, as if that answered all of their unasked questions. "What exactly are we looking for?" Connor asked, his eyes fixed on the road ahead of him. They were getting closer and closer to the edge of town.

"Take the next right" M'gann instructed from the back seat, Connor pulled the car into a large industrial estate, full of dark, damp warehouses.

"This is the place?" Connor asked, "why would they send us here?"

"This was kind of my idea...just trust me it'll be worth it" Zatanna said, Connor pulled over and the three of them climbed out of the car.

"How do you want to play this?" M'gann asked, "I'll grab the vehicle, you grab our gear?" Zatanna answered, she waited for M'gann's approval. "Sounds good, meet you back here in five" M'gann skipped off happily towards the back door. She had no reason to be nervous, they'd planned this down to the last detail. The place was deserted, the gear was kept in the lockers near the back door, it was a simple job. Get in, grab what she needed and get out.

Quietly she picked the lock, and slid inside. She pulled out a small flashlight and looked around the room, careful not to make any noise...just in case. On the other side of the room next to a small desk were the lockers.

"Please be easy to find" M'gann whispered almost inaudibly to herself. She crept over to the desk and began to search through the papers and used coffee cups on the desk top. "Where the hell are you?!" she hissed, with no luck on the desk top she opened the top draw.

M'gann let out a relieved sigh, sat in the almost empty draw were a small set of keys. "Jackpot" she took the keys and rushed over to the lockers, matching the numbers on the keys to the numbers on the lockers she opened two of the lockers and pulled out two small uniforms.

She re-locked the lockers, slipped the keys back into the top drawer of the desk and rushed back outside.

Zatanna rushed off to the next warehouse over. It was a vehicle storage facility for the warehouse that M'gann had broken into. She quietly slipped in through the employees entrance, the lock on the door broken and rusted.

"First things first, let's open this place up a little" she whispered to no one but herself. She skimmed the wall with her hands and found a small key stuck into the wall. Smiling to herself she turned the kay and watched as the large metal door opened up towards the roof.

She grimaced at the sound of old rusted metal as it creaked before rushing off to find what she'd come here for. "Hello Betsy" Zatanna laughed as she found her target, the name printed in cursive writing down the side.

Zatanna climbed behind the wheel and started the engine.

Connor stared at the vehicle as Zatanna drove out of the warehouse, she rolled down the window and leant out. "Not bad huh?" she laughed, "they'll see us coming from miles away" Connor said, unimpressed. "Ah, but it's just the opposite really" Zatanna said, "we'll be hidden in plain sight."

"It's not too late to back out" Slade said, Dick and Artemis laughed from the back seat while Rose sat scowling out of the window next to her father. "You know we can't do that" Dick replied.

"I admire you're guts kid."

The police station loomed ahead of them, they wouldn't have long to wait to see if their plan would work.

Slade turned his head to look at Dick and Artemis. "Get ready to move" the two nodded and unbuckled their seat belts, slowly Rose did the same.

Slade's jeep skidded to a halt and the three jumped out, "good luck..."

One after the other the three of the climbed on top of the jeep and scaled the wall of the police station.

"How are we supposed to get the keys?" Rose asked bitterly. "They should be in the cars...one thing that Wally and I learnt about the Brazilian police is that they're overly confident" Dick answered.

The three landed gracefully on the ground. "When we open the gate there's gonna be a lot of noise, we'll need a distraction" Artemis said. "Consider it done" Slade rasped through the comm.

"We'll take the three nearest to the exit, check the boots there should be uniforms in the back" Dick explained, the three split up and opened up the boots of their chosen cars.

"I've got a uniform" Dick announced, "me too" Artemis replied. The two looked over at Rose, she just nodded and continued to scowl at the police car.

"Remember, we wait for Slade's signal then we high tail it back to the cave" Dick said. "If anything happens to my father, I'm coming for you Crock" Rose growled before she climbed into her car.

Artemis rolled her eyes before climbing into her own vehicle. Artemis pressed in her comm, "Somethings not right here Dick." "What are you thinking?" Dick asked, he sensed the unease in Artemis' voice. "I'm thinking that this is too easy...and Rose...is oddly compliant." "You think they're going to betray us" Dick said, it was more of a statement than a question, he'd always known her far too well.

"Am I just being paranoid?" Artemis asked, deflated. In this line of work it was healthy to have your suspicions, but was she right? "No. You're not...I've been thinking the same thing, and Wally, he doesn't want Rose anywhere near you" Dick replied.

"So what do we do?" "We split up..." Artemis tensed, "You can't be serious" "I'm not happy about it either Arty, but please trust me. They're stronger when they're together" Dick said. "So are we" Artemis said quietly, "ok, how do you want to play this?" she asked.

"I'll open the gate, you and Rose will head straight for the cave. I'll wait for Slade to catch up and the two of us will meet you back at the cave."

Artemis looked over at Rose who sat in her car on the phone. "Who do you think she's talking to?" she asked, Dick shrugged "Slade hopefully."

Off in the distance a loud series of gun shots rang out, "that's the signal" Dick said. He jumped out of his car and ran for the gate, the gate was automated with a simple large red button next to the empty security booth.

Artemis and Rose sped out of the lot, Dick watched them as they left and prayed that he'd made the right call by splitting up.

"Slade I'm on my way to your location" Dick said as he jumped back into his car and left the police station. "No..Go down route B back towards the cave, I'll catch up" Slade answered.

Dick sped off anxious to get back to the cave and see for himself that the plan had worked, that everyone on his team was ok.

"I've got lights on my dash, I need to pull over and check it out" Rose said. Artemis pulled up behind her at the side of the road, the dirt whipped around the car with the wind.

"Dick, something's wrong with Rose's car. We're pulling over." "Ok, but be careful Artemis. If it starts to look like she's got ulterior motives you get back in the car and return to the cave alone." Dick sounded nervous, suddenly Artemis really didn't want to get out of the car.

She followed Rose's lead and exited the car, as she walked up to stand next to Rose the view over the edge of the cliff made Artemis nauseas. She'd been set up. Quickly she turned and rushed back towards her car, it was the click that stopped her from going any further.

She'd definitely been set up.

"I want you to turn around slowly and toss your gun and your radio on the ground" Artemis grimaced, she was screwed. Knowing that she had no choice she slowly turned around and did as Rose had ordered, her gun and radio making a sickening crack as they hit the rough ground.

"Why are you doing this?" Artemis asked her dry throat made it hard to say anything at all. "It's simple really, I just don't like you" Rose answered, Artemis snorted. This girl has serious balls but Artemis saw right through her. She'd once been just like her.

"If you're going to shoot me, at least have the guts to tell me the truth" Artemis said, her voice raspy but calm. Now was not the time to lose her cool.

Rose stood in front of Artemis, her gun aimed at the blondes chest and laughed. Artemis grimaced, the sound was cold, icy. A lot like the person it came from.

"Trust me, I'd love to shoot you but that would just make me look bad" Rose sneered, her voice dripped with what Artemis could only place as blood lust.

"If you're not about to kill me, then what is your plan?" Artemis asked, she knew it was a long shot but Rose seemed like the type who liked to rub their fortunes in other peoples faces.

"I'm sorry Artemis..."

Artemis spun around, and suddenly everything clicked. She was royally screwed.

Old memories of her last job with Cameron flooded her brain as he stood a few feet away from her, his gun also aimed at her.

How the hell had she not heard him approach her?!

"You're plan was to hand me over to the cartel?" Artemis asked, her eyes still locked on Cameron. "It's perfect really..." Rose began, Artemis could hear her get closer as she spoke. "You see you're little team has really pissed off the wrong people, they have a bounty out for each of you. I hand you over, get paid in the process and I have no blood on my hands."

Artemis smirked, she had to admit that it was a good plan, but she'd neglected one simple thing...her team knew her. They knew that there's no way that on a simple mission like this she'd get caught by the cartel and she definitely wouldn't go silent on the radio without saying so.

They wouldn't believe a word.

She stood their her eyes still focused on Cameron and his gun, her team would know the truth but she'd still be gone. She'd be leaving Wally, something that she promised she'd never do.

Cameron looked over at her, studied her for a few minutes until Rose's voice broke the tension. "I gave you one of the team, where's my money?"

Cameron flashed Artemis a sympathetic smile, when she looked there was something in his eyes that she just couldn't place.

"I really am sorry Artemis."

Artemis stiffened, closed her eyes and waited for the pain...


End file.
